


That Most Human

by JD_Riley



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Anal Sex, Contemporary A/B/O, Interracial Relationship, Intrusive Thoughts, Knotting, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mental Health Issues, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Omega Verse, Omegaverse, Stalking, safe house, side character death, vengeance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:41:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 46,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24069046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JD_Riley/pseuds/JD_Riley
Summary: Nervous and soft-spoken concert violinist Basil Zolanowski has been the victim of a violent stalker for six months. His family, unable to cope with his increasing reclusiveness, hires professional bodyguard and handler Jake Thompson who quickly comes to understand just why a man might go insane for the eerily attractive musician.  Left secluded in the Zolanowski's lake house while the Omega recovers, the pair must learn to live with the growing tensions between them and the constant specter who haunts Basil's mind.
Relationships: Jake Thompson/Basil Zolanowski
Comments: 252
Kudos: 321





	1. Chapter 1

The dawn was gray and cold and ill defined in the heavy mist that had formed between the towering edifices of glass and cement. Grid-like streets were filling with the denizens of New York far below him and he watched them with gritty eyes and a pallid stare. He must have felt as wan as he looked, he thought. He had covered the bathroom mirror with a towel and had hidden the one on his bureau with a sheet. He hadn’t seen himself in weeks. The glass was cold and the colorless dawn light did nothing to warm it despite the weatherman’s dubious insistence that this was, in fact, early summer. The mist roamed about, curling and undulating in translucent waves as the wind rippled through the urban maze.

His flat was disturbingly quiet and humid, the set of rooms like a miniature labyrinth unto itself for as much as he shuffled about them. Plush Persian rugs from the south of Iran, silver-inlaid tables from Germany, and darling little crystalline birds crafted in Moscow were hollow and wanting for meaning as treasures within. Should he but only find the freedom to place his hands upon something _real_ again, he could then be happy. He could not even bear to glance upon what once had been his prized possession. Could any one _thing_ be prized anymore? Could any item on earth hold him captive the way this specter of formless danger had?

Basil held himself, still staring down at the streets impossibly far beneath him and wondering just how difficult it might be for him to pick up one of the heavy walnut chairs that sat uselessly around the dining table and break the window with it. It would be unlikely that he could succeed. He was wasting away with every drop of his sweat, his physical and mental strength seeping from his body. Even the thoughts of doing something so laborious were causing him stress that merely compounded upon the tension that was already driving him to an early grave. He probably couldn’t have even done it had he not been malnourished and lethargic. After all, he wasn’t known for his ability to do anything particularly strenuous.

A sound broke his reverie—that of the lock on the door. His heart flew into his throat where it fluttered and pounded like a panicked bird in a cage. He didn’t turn around even as his breaths became short pants and a numbness flooded into his hands. A familiar helpless weakness consumed him and he held himself tighter, his eyes unfocused and filled with liquid tears while another wave of sweat broke out over his flesh.

“Basil? Are you awake?”

A relieved sob escaped him but the weakness had affected him too greatly and he lost the support of his legs, at first sagging and then crumpling down to the carpet by the huge, floor-to-ceiling plate glass.

“Basil!” His brother came to him, taking his shoulders in his arm and letting him rest his weight against his grip. “What are you doing out of bed? And by the window? Please…Basil…”

He shivered, turning his face toward his brother’s chest, his soft Beta scent calming and dry. _A fine Riesling on a snippy winter morning in Kiev…_ He could sense another scent in the room… _a sweet, gentle Rosé_ —the doctor.

“Come on, we’re going to get you into the bedroom.”

“N-No…” he protested even as he could not struggle. “Seth, please…I have spent too much time there…I cannot go back.”

“You’ll be more comfortable,” he replied but he made no move to lift him.

“Place me on the sofa then…but not the bed. I’ve soiled it anyhow.”

Seth rolled his eyes with a wry amusement. “Slick is hardly a soil and Dr. Abbott and I will change your bedding.” He lifted him easily and placed his lithe form upon the sofa nearby, his shirt where Basil had touched him darkened by the dampness of his sweet Omega sweat. “Let me get your blanket and the doctor will be with you, alright?”

“Did you…did you lock the—”

“I did. How are your fingers?”

Basil’s heart hurt and he could see his hand shaking when he lifted it, three of his fingers taped into metal and foam splints. It was hardly the first time the darkness that held him had touched him but it was the most devastating instance and the most clever—even he had to admit that. “You’re sure you locked the d—”

“Basil, how many times are you going to ask me that today?”

Helplessness descended over him and he swallowed convulsively.

“I know…” Seth sighed. “I know…I’m sorry. I will lock it again. For you.”

He nodded and placed his uninjured hand over his eyes, listening for the distinct click of the lock. It came and he loosed a gentle sob. _I will drive them all mad if I do not drive them all away first._ His blanket was placed over him and he was, for the most part, comfortable despite the raging heat that consumed him. The pain of an unresolved heat was, he thought, more existential than physical and so he sought to relieve it often by removing himself. It was, according to Dr. Abbott, a relatively harmless manner of going about it—as long as one took care to _come back_ afterward.

The doctor came to him now, his voice authoritative as he touched Basil’s forehead, his hand cool and dry. “Have you given thought to a light suppressant, Mr. Zolanowski?”

He let himself have a shaky and sardonic grin. “And _I_ am the one who is asked how many times I will repeat a query.”

Abbott’s smile was in his voice. “There are minimal risks with light doses. Stress heats are in twenty-four hour cycles, Basil. They’re not meant to last this long. It’s been three weeks. Your body is under a tremendous amount of strain. Even the most resolute of Omegas could have succumbed by now. If your family did not care so much about you, I’d imagine you’d likely be hospitalized…that or dead. So…I will continue to ask because I’m anxious for your recovery. Since you refuse to go to the hos—”

“You know I can’t.” he snapped.

The doctor sighed. “We have a fine psychologist there who can work you through the—”

“No.” He heard Seth moving about the kitchen and plastic bags being unloaded onto the counter. “Seth…bring me my violin.”

“I’m making your breakfast.”

“My violin.”

Another beleaguered sigh. When it was brought to him, he held it delicately to himself with its bow, careful not to scratch it with the splints on his fingers. Unable to play, he merely held it, closing his eyes and wishing that the music could drown the thoughts in his head, each intrusive horrible thought washed away by cascades of individual notes that could flow out from this sweet instrument.

Abbott adjusted his blanket. “You’ve an independent therapist, Dr. Wilton. When is your appointment with him?”

Seth replied to that one from the open kitchen. “Never. Basil fired him.”

“Why?” There was a hint of alarm in his tone.

Basil spoke through his teeth. “I will not be patronized. I don’t need a man to tell me that it would be better should I think in some manner or another…I know that already. I need someone who can _make that happen._ It is not so simple as to tell me ‘do not do this’ and have it so as if by _magic_.”

A tight breath in was what Dr. Abbott could manage in response. “Did you not have a therapist before?”

“I did not need one.”

“Ah yes. The violin, I presume.”

The smell of bacon began to overpower the heavy heat scent in the air and Seth came near. “He’s very good. One of the best. If this all hadn’t happened, we would be in Bucharest right now.” He smiled a sad little smile down at where Basil lay.

The Omega frowned up at him. “Do not look at me with that face.”

“What face?”

“Pity.”

His brother knelt beside the couch and gently touched his forehead to brush back some of his messy hair. “You give me too much credit. You are too cranky to pity.”

Abbott shuffled to drag over one of the dining chairs. “Do not tease him, Seth. He’s too stressed.”

He stood. “You shouldn’t coddle him or he will never be free of it.”

“He will not be free of it until the police have done their duty and found the man responsible. It cannot be so difficult, one would think. Have they looked through all the footage? There must be so much of it…” he glared around them, as if expecting to find the cameras. “To hide a rat trap in Basil’s clothes drawers…when he knows of the compulsion to fold and refold…who is this monster? Someone who must know him.”

“Bah,” Seth said, “It is something that those freaks on the internet mention in their forums. Who cares about music anymore? It is the useless information that excites them these days. The lurid drama.”

“What is lurid about that?”

Seth brought his fingers up and together for emphasis. “It is the inner workings of an artist’s mind. Do you understand? It is not enough that they know his music. They must know him. Intimately. Especially because he is an Omega. Some…if they cannot have him…no one can.”

Frustration began to pool in Basil’s chest followed by that helpless, weak feeling. “So whoever they are. They take my music…they take my peace…they take my life. And no one has me. Not even me.”

There was a quietude suddenly, broken only by the sizzling of the bacon and the tumultuous cacophony of Basil’s inner thoughts which could not leave him be for a moment. He wanted to get up. He wanted to make sure the door was locked. He wanted to lock it. He wanted to get up. He wanted to get up. He wanted to _get up._

_GET UP._

“Auh…” he groaned, tears escaping his eyes while his chest constricted. “I can’t.” Even as he said it, one of his feet was sliding to the floor.

“Where are you going, Basil?”

He let out a few sobbing laughs. “I have to lock the door.”

The sizzling ended and Seth’s voice rose. “Basil, I told you already—”

Abbot interrupted him. “Seth, let him lock the door.”

“The door’s already locked.”

“But he isn’t the one who’s _done it_. Let him do it.”

“He won’t _stop_ doing it!” He placed the place of eggs and bacon down on the side table next to the sofa and put his hands on Basil’s shoulders, holding him down. “He won’t stop because the only way for him to stop doing it is for you to force him to stop. It used to be that he could break it with that _fucking_ violin and now once he’s got it in his head that he’s got to do something, he’ll do it until it gets overridden!” His voice was harsh and direct, down into Basil’s face. “I’ve _already_ locked the door. The door is locked, do you hear me? You heard it and you know it. It’s _done._ ”

“What if he only does it once?”

“He won’t. Will you, Basil?”

He was putting out those strange, laughing sobs again, his tears soaking into his sweat before running down into his hair. “I…I won’t. I…can’t stop.”

Abbott shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “Well perhaps a distraction. What if you were to eat your breakfast, Basil?”

“I can’t…” Anxiety was trailing through him now. He couldn’t feel his hands again and his heart was in his throat. “The d-door…I have to lock the…”

“For the love of Christ,” Seth swore, pulling the violin out of Basil’s arms and settling it beneath his chin before he began to sloppily play Tchaikovsky. The sound, as he continued, tightened up and became less ill-formed. He was a decent musician in his own right and as he became more comfortable in his stance and less focused upon Basil, he relaxed into the music.

If Basil could have felt his hands, he would have known his fingers were twitching with every note. Even his arms were moving involuntarily and he was openly sobbing. It wasn’t as if everything could wash away…but at the very least, the notion to lock the door did, eventually, become lost in his brother’s solo. His heart moved back down into his chest and he held himself tight again under his blanket, twisting until he was facing the back of the sofa, another wave of sweat prickling over his body to soak into his clothes and the cushions. He curled into himself, shivering again and covering his head.

When Seth finished, the last high note he chose to end upon echoed through Basil’s mind as if shooing mice from the corners, sending thoughts scattering until he couldn’t remember what in the world he’d been obsessing over this time.

Abbott’s voice was soft in the now-quiet room. “A fine performance, Seth.”

“Not to Basil. But at the very least, he might fucking stay off it for now.” He sighed. “I know you think I must be a very impatient brother but know that I have been through this for a long, long time and this is the worst it has ever been. I am not trained for this and nor do I ever want to be. I understand it, but I cope with it just about as well as he does—not well at all.”

Abbott was silent for a moment but must have answered with a gesture for his next sentence was to Basil. “You’ll want your breakfast before it gets cold, won’t you Basil?”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Irrelevant. I’m going to make you eat. If you don’t eat then you come to the hospital.”

He slowly lifted himself, letting the blanket fall from his head to his shoulders, leaning over and picking up the fork to eat. He ate in this odd, hunched manner until most of the eggs were gone and all of the bacon was before he sank back down onto the couch, seeking to ignore the thought that his laundry hadn’t been folded since his fingers had been broken. It pestered him but didn’t panic him the way other thoughts did so he waffled over it better than the others. It was only that his clothes could be _wrinkled_. That didn’t matter now.

 _Do you hear me?_ He forcibly thought. _It doesn’t matter now! I won’t be doing any concerts for a while! I won’t need my nice clothes! It won’t matter if they wrinkle! It doesn’t matter!_

“Basil?”

“Hmm?” he asked dazedly, looking up at Seth.

“Lost in your thoughts again?”

His response was a tight half-smile. “Obviously not enough to cause _you_ any harm.”

“I said that we’re going to be getting you another handler. Like the one you had a few years ago.”

“I don’t want one.”

“They’ll be an Alpha. Able to withstand your stress heats and your normal heats. Very professional. In fact, I’ve already got a few resumés picked out for approval. If you don’t want to look at them, it won’t matter. I’m hiring them on your behalf and you’re going to live with them for at least a week before you fire them. Mom, Dad, and I are getting nervous at your living like a recluse.”

“And what else would you have me do?” he asked hotly. “Get snatched right out the door by some madman?”

“No, I would rather you have a guardian who can protect you from a stalker the way you ought to be protected.” He was still holding Basil’s violin.

“Give me my violin.”

“I haven’t scratched it.”

“I have to check it.”

He rolled his eyes and then looked at the doctor. “If I don’t give it to him, he’ll scream for it. This is the man who fired his therapist…this obsessive idiot.”

Abbott stared at him. “Please give it to him, Seth. Don’t be cruel.”

He did and Basil looked it over for a few seconds, content that it was unharmed before he hugged it to himself again and laid back down. “I don’t need a bodyguard.”

“Yes you do. I’ll bring them when I’ve hired them. They’ll stay in your guest room.”

“Like hell they will. An Alpha? In _my_ flat?”

“I want them as close to you as possible. A week at the very least. And you’re to go outside with them and listen to every bit of advice they give. They’re trained protectors…I’ve not been canvassing bouncers from the bars, I’ve been looking for experience. I want you out of this stress heat. I want this nervousness gone. The way it used to be.” He stood up. “Eventually the person who’s done this to you will be in prison and you’ll be back to playing the world’s stages…but that’ll never happen if they’ve killed you or you’ve driven yourself to an early grave. Listen to me, Basil.”

Despite himself, he was listening, his violin clutched to his chest.

“You’re going to have your music again. You’re going to have your peace. You’re going to have _you_. I swear it.”


	2. Chapter 2

Central Park was experiencing a chilly breeze which floated through the leaves of the trees, causing them to whisper cheerily as the damp of the morning gave way to the tentative warmth of the sun. Dew evaporated and the mist lifted and birds sang through the trees while the sound of traffic faded in and out in the distance. It wasn’t a busy afternoon in the Park though there were some couples having their wedding photos taken and there were birds piled around each other to get to seeds thrown by little old men who liked watching them scurry.

Jake Thompson was standing on the grass a little way off the path, leaning on one of the taller trees with a hotdog wrapped in wax paper in one hand an a small pair of binoculars in the other. He had the binoculars held delicately to the bridge of his nose and pointed upwards toward the chittering sounds of the songbirds that flitted between the tree branches. Without altering his stance, he took a bite of the dog and chewed. A sweet little goldfinch was chattering away, still clad in his drab-looking winter feathers as he hopped down one of the long, swaying branches.

When the bird had flown off, he pulled his eyes away and let the binoculars swing around his neck on their thin cord while he focused on eating. Central Park was really the best place to see the songbirds that made their way through the city though sometimes he’d seen some odd spaces that they liked to make their nests. He’d even seen a bluebird nesting in a small hole made by construction workers for a fitting. Some birds just didn’t give a shit, he thought with a soft chuckle.

He finished up his hotdog and brushed his hands off together, tossing his wax paper in one of the many trash bins. His phone vibrated in his pocket and he took a little glance at his FitBit to see who might be calling.

_Ah, that oddball Beta._ He answered with his name and the Beta immediately got to the point.

“I’d like for you to meet my brother.”

Jake took in a deep breath of the park’s relatively fresher air. “Is this my second interview?”

“I wouldn’t bring you to meet him if I didn’t think you were the man for the job. Consider yourself hired. I’m not leaving anything up to him.”

He smiled at himself and shook his head, unbelieving that he was really going to go through with something like this. He’d been a babysitter for unwilling clients before and they were the type to give you the slip and then blame whatever ill-fated bullshit that happened to them on the bodyguard they’d left in the dust. Still…the money was good and Jake needed it. “Alright,” he sighed. “I’ll meet your brother. I’ll take the job. But if he runs away from me and gets in trouble, I’m not gonna be held accountable for that.”

“He won’t run. I can promise you that.”

“You can’t promise me anything unless the man hasn’t got legs,” Jake replied, hoping his tone was just light enough to be taken as a joke. The Beta was serious but surely he had to have some kind of sense of humor.

“Tomorrow, Mr. Thompson. I’ll text you the address. I know we’ve already discussed this but you _are_ the sort to remain composed in rut, correct?”

Maybe he didn’t have a sense of humor after all. Jake let his voice return to its original professionalism. “I wouldn’t lie about something as grave as that, sir. I am absolutely under control at all times. Is he in heat?”

“He is. It’s the stress, you see.”

“Yes. I understand.” He _did_ understand. It was easy for some of these rich folks to find themselves in too deep with something and unable to get themselves out of the mire. They were too stuck up…too proud. He couldn’t imagine an Omega like his mama ever falling into a stress heat. The woman was much too headstrong and much too busy raising all of her children to be wasting her time falling into stress heats. Such things were for people who could afford to feel stress. “It won’t be a problem.”

“Good. I’m counting on you. Eleven o'clock should be a good time for him. He sometimes wakes late and we’ll need some time to get him presentable. You’re alright with staying with him? You’ll need to bring your things.”

“That won’t be a problem either,” Jake replied easily. He didn’t want to spend too much time at his own apartment anyway. His three roommates could do well enough without him around. “I know you want him safe and that’s what I want too. Staying with him is probably the best decision.” Besides hiring a whole team of bodyguards, which could get even pricier than what Jake charged, it was really the only way to get twenty-four-seven protection. He could handle it. What else did he have to do, anyway? He touched the binoculars around his neck. Birdwatching could only take up so much of a man’s time.

“Good, good. I’ll see you at eleven then. Thank you, Mr. Thompson. I really appreciate this. You can’t know how much we’ve needed this.”

“Don’t thank me too much. I’m just doin’ my job. I’ll see you at eleven.”

With his phone back in his pocket, he picked up his binoculars again and peered up into the trees. A robin bounced happily from one branch to another and a roil of apprehension formed in Jake’s guts. He was going to be uncomfortably horny for the whole of meeting this poor Omega on the morrow and that in itself was going to be a rocky start for two people meant to live in proximity with each other. It wasn’t going to take much effort to remain professional—it never did take him much effort with these pretentious assholes—but it was going to take plenty not to jerk off every damn second he wasn’t within eyesight. Just because he was composed and under control didn’t mean he wasn’t gonna feel the urge to fuck his hand every single time he walked into the bathroom.

For that inconvenience, it was good money with little else to keep him from it. He’d done a little research when he’d first been interviewed and found out that the sweet little Omega he was going to be living with was a bit of a famous violinist. Without any formal training in music, Jake was at a loss to understand anything about the life of a classical musician and imagined that it was nothing like the lives of his friends who often lived, and died, by their music. It wasn’t as though classical violinists were often shot outside of clubs in drive-bys because of some slight or another perceived by their musical or gang rivals. He didn’t have to worry about random acts of violence—it was really just the one source and, with a little decent intimidation factor, Jake hoped that that particular violent entity would cease. Sometimes, all it took was a fierce rival and cowardly Alphas would turn tail.

Then again, he conceded, sometimes they wouldn’t. If that were the case, he would have to be vigilant. Perhaps it was a scorned lover…the Beta, Seth, hadn’t given him all the details yet and it was left to him to ponder who the person could be that would stalk and seek to harm a man with very little to protect himself. The sort of Alpha who victimized Omegas was not the sort who found it within them to stand up to Alphas…that was the typical finding anyway. Perhaps it was a deranged fan. Were there such things as deranged fans of classical music? He didn’t know. Perhaps he had missed a note somewhere and enraged some psychopath who sought to erase the man who had destroyed a particularly beautiful piece of music. Now Jake was just playing with the scenarios in his mind so he quit while he was ahead, wandering back toward his apartment to wait out the time between today and tomorrow.

His apartment was cramped with three other roommates. His things fit all in one closet-sized room and he sat on his bed with his laptop on his thighs to browse through twitter and do a bit more research on Mr. Basil Zolanowski. 

Photos of him standing in a white dress shirt and a black waistcoat filled the top bar of the search, a violin under his chin and a fine sheen of sweat over his brow and dampening his natural shockingly red hair. His eyes were a light and hazy shade of blue, his lids heavy to give him an alluring and mysterious sleepy-eyed expression as he played. Videos of him playing were offered but Jake ignored them. He didn’t know and he didn’t need to know. Violins had never been his cup of tea and he couldn’t imagine spending however long to watch a video of a man playing one. Perhaps if he needed to go to sleep, he would pick one and let it play.

He tapped on a few links to some news articles and some critic reviews and learned a little more about the life Zolanowski lived—it was a quiet one. He was not the sort to attend wild parties and he certainly didn’t take much time to interact with anyone who was considered his fan. He didn’t sign autographs, he didn’t go to any gatherings that were not concerts and it was rare to find him at an after-party. Though there were some reports of him attending, it was only under the care of a handler that he did so. Without one now, he had been reported as becoming somewhat of a recluse and, as the articles suggested, he had become so out of necessity as there seemed to be someone out to get him. Unfortunately for Zolanowski, the article came to guess that perhaps this harasser was merely a figment of his imagination. He had always been such an odd Omega—it would not be such a leap to surmise that he had perhaps a screw or two loose by now. Such was the way of many a musical genius, after all.

_Genius_. Jake wondered if this was all going to be worth it in the end. What if the man really was mad? What if everything Seth had told him was something he had invented in his mind? Having played the violin since the age of four, the man had traveled the world as a soloist playing with dozens of orchestras and having music written specifically for him by several composers. Though Jake couldn’t recognize those who had written music for him, he could recognize the classics—Beethoven, Bach, Mozart… This man was in all rights famous, though most of the world would never know his name. Was all this enough to drive a man to the brink?

Eventually, after supper and a bit of reading before bed, he went to sleep, clicking one of the links of the man playing as a bit of a joke to himself. He didn’t have much time to reflect that the joke, it seemed, truly was on him as he drifted off to his mind’s images of shocking red hair and sleepy ice blue eyes. When he awoke, it was to the sun streaming in through his one tiny window and he rose like the living dead, reaching over to his laptop to wake it with him and he clicked the play button again, staring at the video to watch the little Omega draw his bow across the strings and keep on well with the piano that accompanied him.

It was to this that Jake packed his bag, bringing mostly clothes along with the rest of his essentials. When he got up and left, he surprised himself when he bothered to tell his one roommate that he was leaving for a little while, thinking that perhaps he shouldn’t have told them anything…that way they couldn’t immediately sublet his room the next day.

_Whatever. I don’t plan on losing this job…whatever that takes._ He couldn’t afford to. He wasn’t in debt yet but another week without a paycheck and he would be. His previous employment had been disrupted when the old man he’d been watching over finally croaked in his hospital bed and from then on, Jake had been searching in vain, it seemed like, for someone who was very much alive who needed an Alpha to keep them safe. Most of the clients who required services like his already had trusted handlers and bodyguards, rarely changing them for someone they didn’t know. This little violinist was a fluke.

Slinging the strap of his duffle bag over his shoulder, he rode the train to a good point to walk and easily found Zolanowski’s building, heading inside to chat with the front desk to make certain he was on the approved list before he headed toward the elevators and rode up to to the 29th floor where he quickly found the apartment he needed.

Setting his bag to the floor, he knocked professionally, adjusting his informal but professional-appearing clothes as he heard the lock noisily turn. He gave Seth a winning and warm smile as he stood straight and tall, hoping he appeared every bit as tall as he was. He was almost tall enough that he had to duck under the door frame when the Beta ushered him in.

“Thank you for being prompt. You’re even a few minutes early. Please come in, we’ll make you some tea…or maybe something cold for you.”

He could tell the windows were cracked open in several places in the apartment but even the chilly cross breeze couldn’t touch the incredible power of _heat_ that had permeated every single thing in this place. Jake was amazed it hadn’t made it out into the hall via the cracks in the door for how powerful it was and he was immediately hard in his khakis, swelled and straining with rut. He cleared his throat, unsure if he could respond. In fact, he could, and he did, forcing out a little sigh with it.

“Hmm…how about something cold?”

Seth smiled a little smug, the prick. “We’ve some filtered water, some cranberry juice, _La Croix_ …”

“You know, I’ve never had one of those.” His eyes were roaming through the open floor plan, searching for the source of the scent that had blasted him. Assuming that Basil must have been in one of the bedrooms down the hall, he took in the scene as best he could, finding the place far too big for one person—especially in New York City. This was certainly how the rich lived, he thought, examining the expensive-looking art placed about the walls and on surfaces about the place. An empty stand was placed off to the side upon a wide wooden pedestal and Jake speculated that it was just the sort of stand one might place a violin upon, though the piece in question was missing. When Seth handed him the _La Croix_ he opened it, curious. Sipping, he frowned. “He’s not up?”

“He’s gone back to bed…I’m going to rouse him though. He should meet you.”

“No, no…don’t bother. He can meet me when he wakes.”

Seth looked over at him with a wry amusement. “I apologize for this but I’ll have to insist. Should he wake to find a man he doesn’t know in his apartment, I’m not certain what he might do. My brother is…odd.”

“How odd can he be? I guess it would be normal to be wary of a strange Alpha in your apartment…even if you know he’ll be there.”

“You…you do know that he’s got a stalker.” The Beta poured himself water from a _Brita_ filter and took a gulp of it.

“I read a few articles. He really has one then?”

“Yes. It’s not like Basil to make things up…well…thing like that. And I hardly think he really would have broken his own fingers…”

Jake paused, staring at the Beta hard. “What?”

“His fingers…the bastard put a rat trap in his clothes drawer…you see…I didn’t tell you something about my brother. I told you that he was odd…that he was peculiar, but I didn’t tell you how so…”

“I’ve dealt with odd before.” He wanted to reach down and adjust himself but he held off, taking gulps of the barely-flavored carbonated water instead in an effort to cool himself a little.

“He has to…check things. All the time. And once he starts checking them, he won’t stop checking them. He’s haunted by thoughts and he _must_ act on them unless he is distracted from doing so or kept from doing so physically.”

Jake frowned hard. “He’s not…dangerous…”

“No,” Seth replied a little hard. “No…no…nothing like that. He’s harmless. Even to himself, he’s harmless. It was under control before all this but with stress, it becomes worse and…and too much to bear for him. Playing the violin helped him immensely but now, with his fingers broken…”

Jake nodded. “So am I supposed to be protecting him from his stalker…or from himself?”

“A little of both, I think. Have you any experience in…cooking?”

“I can cook, yeah. I thought this might have been one of those jobs. If you want me to, Mr. Zolanowski, I will make sure your brother has everything he needs. I will make sure he’s alright. As long as he isn’t going to run away from me…”

“He can’t go anywhere. In fact, one of his obsessions is locking the door.” The man put his face in his hand, rubbing at his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. “Just…please, Alpha…I’m begging you. I can’t take this anymore.”

“You won’t have to,” he promised, unsure how much of this he, himself, was willing to take. A job was a job, but this _scent._ He knew that the Omega was sick—it was an under-layer of the aroma even—but by god did he want to sink right into his fever-warmed body and take his release. The specter of wet ginger hair, pale flesh shined with sweat, and hazy robin’s egg eyes haunted his fantasies. He wanted to walk right into the bedroom to see him at this very moment—he wanted to find him cuddled and panting in a finely-crafted nest. “You’ve got my credentials, you have my number. As soon as I meet him, you can get out of here and get some rest. I won’t be going anywhere and your brother is safe with me…although…” he looked around at the wide windows without any curtains and the open floor plan. “You guys have any like…other places he could stay?”

Seth stared at him. “What do you mean?”

“We’re only on the 29th floor and he’s got these huge windows…anyone could see in here from that building…that building…with a high powered scope, even from all the way over there.” He pointed out the windows to each spot that someone could spy on Basil from and even thought to himself that it wasn’t completely out of bounds to suggest that someone could do it from ground level.

“Well…I mean…we have a lake home…but that’s hours from here.”

“He’s being stalked, Mr. Zolanowski. Maybe hours from here isn’t a bad idea.”

Seth nodded, clearly thinking hard. “A-Alright…We can see what he says when you meet him…he might not want to go…”

A soft voice came from the hall and Jake snapped his eyes over to the bedraggled little redhead who’d emerged from there. A blanket was hanging around his thin shoulders and he held the missing violin and bow tight against his chest as though it could protect him. His words were garbled as though he had just woken. “W-where might I go?”

Seth came to him and adjusted his blanket. “Rushford, Basil. The lake house might just be the thing, you know…it might brighten your spirits.”

“The lake house…” he parroted sleepily. His scent was billowing off of him, further tightening Jake’s khakis. “Who…who is this Alpha? He cannot be…”

“Yes, Basil. He’s your handler.”

“I don’t need a bodyguard,” the Omega told him, his voice somewhat breathless the way many Omegas spoke during their heats. He swayed on his feet as though he couldn’t bear to stand up any longer, his legs weakened.

“That’s none of my concern, Mr. Zolanowski. I’ve been hired and I’m staying.”

He appeared as though he could have fought back against the notion but instead merely sighed a tired sigh and retreated back into the bedroom, the room stuffy now with the overwhelming scent of his heat. Even from just one look at him, Jake was concerned. He was in rough shape. One thing was certain—something was going to have to stop this heat or it might kill him.

“You really think the lake house?” Seth asked pensively.

“Yeah,” Jake replied gravely. “I do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As soon as I figure out how to bring characters to life, I'm marrying Jake. He's mine. I already called dibs.


	3. Chapter 3

It wasn’t a very large house, more like a cottage than anything else. There was a large barn that served as a garage where Basil’s father kept his old Pontiac in the winter, covered by a tarp and kept from the elements. The front of the house faced toward the lake and boasted a large picture window that provided a decent view of a steep hill that served as a yard of sorts which rolled down and ended in a medium-sized dock. The dock jutted out from the edge of the earth over the dark water which, to Basil, held too many secrets for his comfort. The lake was man-made, covering everything underneath including huge tree trunks and even large parts of cars or refrigerators. Not being able to see the bottom had always made Basil wary, even when he knew there was nothing beneath the water that was not rock or cement bits—what he could see in the colder months when the water level was drained at the dam and the bottom of the shallower parts were revealed.

He had slept most of the time they were driving, the windows rolled all the way down so Jake might not suffer too terribly in a cramped car with a heated Omega. He couldn’t decide how he felt about Jake. His natural urges were telling him that he was a virile and potent Alpha and that he was handsome and well-formed. What Basil was willing to admit to himself, beyond the thoughts of his heat-fantasies, was that Jake was certainly tall and good-looking. He was clean, sensible, and, from what Basil could tell, he was more soft-spoken than any Alpha he’d ever met before…though that could have merely been the fact that he was constantly schooling himself due to the heat scent that was always around him.

_How could he be so stoic?_ Basil had always thought Alphas a bit of a rowdy bunch when they were presented with an Omega in heat. They always had something to say about it—like offering to help or making snide remarks about the concept of _consent_. But Jake was a professional. He spoke with Seth very little, everything they had to say to each other having already been said out of earshot of Basil, who spent most of his time snoozing anyway.

That was the one thing about stress heats that he didn’t like one bit—how fatigued he became. At the first, he’d thought that perhaps it had merely triggered his true heat, but after many weeks and a a few doctor’s appointments, it became apparent that this was not normal in the slightest. Perhaps it was going to be good to get away for a while. Perhaps it would be decent to lay in the bathtub at the cottage and fill it with ice water. Though, he thought as he held himself and stared out at the rushing countryside, everything at the cottage was old. The fridge was an odd yellow color and the freezer had no ice-maker but ice cube trays which would take time.

Still, it was comfortable to be there he supposed. He liked the way it smelled. A little musty, a little damp, a little like old books. He liked the very faint spice of his grandama still detectable in her old leather sitting chair where she used to read the newspaper. He liked the memories he had of sitting close to the front window, staring out over the rippling lake water and watching the reflections of the sky and the clouds in the ever-moving surface. He was ready. He was ready to be there and to find solace in it. He was ready to be in a place where the only clothes he had to fold were oversized sweaters and t-shirts and shorts. He wouldn’t feel the need to shine his shoes for he had no shoes to shine—only flip flops and old, comfortable sneakers. He needn’t iron anything or make certain that the dry cleaners hadn’t missed anything.

He could sit at the desk that stood in the hall and look at things that he hadn’t really seen since he was a little pup. The black ceramic mantle clock with a gold-accented panther climbing over it had fascinated him as a child and he thought it would nice if only he could make certain it still kept time. He wanted to stand in the back room and trace with his toes the odd dark carpeting that was patterned with stylized floral squares. He wanted to sit upon the back porch and rub the bottoms of his feet over the interesting texture of rough fake grass covering that was meant to keep any dirt from the inside of the house by scraping it from the bottoms of one's shoes. He wanted to wander around the perimeter of the house between the siding and the hedgerow, balancing on the wooden barrier of the rock garden that was probably overgrown with weeds and forget-me-nots.

But he didn’t want to be stared at. He didn’t want to always have an Alpha looking over his shoulder. As good as Jake smelled to him, Basil didn’t want him there. He wanted to revel in his nostalgia and do so in privacy.

“Ah,” Seth said finally, keeping Basil from dozing off again. “We’re here.”

The gravel drive crunched under Seth’s Jetta, the uneven surface jostling Basil until he was compelled to sit up, watching the cottage come into view through the open windows. The cool air over his face felt good and as soon as they were stopped, he opened the door and slid himself out, his legs feeling much weaker than they had before.

“Careful Basil,” Seth told him, coming around the car as the Omega slumped against it. “Jake, would you help him inside?”

“I don’t want to be inside,” he protested, his voice breathless but sure. “Don’t take me inside, Alpha…”

Jake shut his door and came to him. “Where would you like to be?”

Seth huffed. “He can go inside. We’ve got things to unpack and he can lay down on the couch. I’ll bring you your violin, Basil, just go inside.”

Jake glanced to Seth dismissively and brought his eyes back to Basil, his voice a little softer as he repeated his question. “Where would you like to be, Basil?”

He felt a prickle of appreciation and lifted his gaze straight to the Alpha’s. “There’s a…a porch around to that side. There should be a bench on it…”

“Alright. May I carry you? You’re a little unsteady.”

“Y-yes.”

Jake’s grip was strong but gentle, his arms like hardened steel and yet soft when they held him. He was lifted easily, as if he weighed no more than a sack of feathers. Jake took him, holding him close until they were around to the porch where the bench sat against the side of the cottage next to the sliding door and offering a decent view down toward the lake. “Here then?”

“Yes, please.”

“Alright. Don’t get up. We’ll get everything unpacked and I’ll make you some lunch. Are you hungry?”

“No.” He was hungry but not for food. In Jake’s arms, he had felt even more breathless, hoping somehow that his sordid night-time fantasies might play out. He wanted Jake to take him into the back bedroom and undress him and open his legs and—

“I’ll make you a sandwich and you can decide then if you’d like to eat it. You don’t have to eat lunch but you do have to eat all of your supper. I won’t take no for an answer on that count.”

“Alright Alpha.” He sat on the bench, staring longingly at Jake’s retreating form.

It was the heat, of course. He was never like this. He licked his dry lips and stared out at the water which would have been quite cold this time of year. Seth had packed his swimming things and he couldn’t help but wish that he could have them on right now so that he could somehow wash away all these thoughts. He didn’t want a bodyguard…he had never wanted one. But now that he had this one, he definitely didn’t want him as a bodyguard—he wanted him as some kind of prostitute.

_Oh stop it, Basil._ But he couldn’t. It was only biology. The absorbent pad in his underwear was heavy with the slick it had already caught and he let out another gush with his thoughts. He lay his head back on the bench and closed his eyes, taking in the scent of freshly mowed grass and the earthy fragrance of the water as the breeze blew up the hill and rustled the leaves of the tall oak tree that grasped at the side of the world on the hill with its huge tendril-like roots. He could smell Jake’s aroused Alpha scent clinging to his skin and his clothes. It was impossible not to smell it with his senses like they were.

As much as he didn’t want an Alpha with him, he felt protected. But what about—? His eyes opened and a familiar clench gripped at his heart.

The sliding glass door opened and Jake’s voice was low beside him. “Would you like your violin, Basil?”

_Is it so easy to know me?_ “Yes…please.”

“Alright. Here it is.” He carefully brought it out, holding it how he’d seen Basil hold it. He was a decent Alpha and a quick learner. “I’ve also brought your lunch, I’m going to set it on the side table here. You should try to eat some.”

Basil didn’t reply. He and Jake had barely said anything to each other and yet he still fantasized about him. One didn’t have to know an Alpha to want them…but what about when this heat was over? What then? What sort of man was Jake really? Basil held his violin against his body, holding it as though it might protect him from his own thoughts.

“Alpha…”

“Yeah?” Jake asked, coming back out the door in the midst of his retreat.

“Thank you.” It wasn’t what he wanted to say. He wanted to tell him that as soon as Seth left, they were going to have a chat. Of course, in his heat-addled mind, this chat ended in a good, long fucking.

_Don’t be ridiculous, Basil. Your body would give out. Even the lightest fuck could probably cause you to have a heart attack._

“You’re welcome,” Jake replied with a small smile. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”

Basil peered over at the sandwich on the side table and at the glass of water next to it. There was no ice in it—likely Jake had filled the empty cube trays in the freezer but he would have to wait. “No, thank you.”

“Alright. I’m going to close the screen but not the glass. Yell if you need anything.”

“Very good.” He leaned back again, relaxing as he held his violin and tried to ignore the throb that had begun again in his broken fingers. He thought that maybe he fell asleep. He could have. It often came on very quickly and discreetly. He would drift in and out of consciousness so easily that sometimes it was difficult for him to tell what was a dream and what was reality. Still, he knew when he woke.

There was a gentle tickling on his throat and his forehead and instinctively he knew what it was. Alongside the house for as long as he could remember there had been a butterfly bush and, even when he was a child, Basil had been so sweet—this being what his mother said about him—that the butterflies couldn’t help themselves. When he opened his eyes, he dared not move lest he disturb them from sipping his sweet sweat and tasting him with their tiny feet. There were at the very least six of them and they fluttered around him, eagerly finding spots to perch in order to tap over his damp face and throat with their proboscises. In all the years he had stayed away, he had not forgotten how much he loved the butterflies and how much the butterflies loved him.

The screen door opened and he could smell the Alpha though he did not turn to look at him.

Jake’s voice held a smile. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

Seth had come out with him. “Oh, he’s always been like this. Careful not to chase them off, he likes them.”

“So sweet that butterflies come to you? My Mama would say that’s a blessing,” Jake supplied readily. “It’d be a sin to chase them off.”

Basil smiled. “Is it a sin to chase off anything that’s harmless?”

“It’d be different if they were houseflies.”

“Why? Because they’re ugly?”

Jake chuckled. “Something about butterflies, I guess. They’re blessed…so are you, I guess.”

“Maybe so.”

Seth walked to the edge of the porch, the tips of his sandals along the lip of it. “I’ve got to go home, Basil. Jake will be here with you. You’ll take as long as you need here…Jake will keep you safe. I want this heat gone. Whatever you have to do to quell it. Oma’s meditation tapes were in the closet. I’ve set them out on the table in the back room. Take a dip or two in the lake…Jake don’t let him drown. This place is calm and quiet and secluded…if you need to go anywhere, the keys to the Pontiac are on the hook near the sink in the back room.”

Basil sighed. “Is there still a bookstore nearby?”

“I think so. You’ll have to look. Don’t take any chances. If you see something odd, tell Jake right away.”

“Yes, of course Seth.”

“Alright…well that’s all I think. Call me if you need me. And make sure you don’t hurt your fingers any more. You’ll want to play again, won’t you?”

Basil let himself have a grin, dislodging one of the butterflies from its perch so that it had to move up into his damp hair. “Does a fish want to swim? I’ve no choice. It is my nature.”

“Good. Get yourself out of this stress. I can’t stand to see you this way. And for the love of God, eat something.”

“Yes, yes, thank you Seth. Jake? Would you do me a favor?”

“Of course,” he replied, his low and powerful Alpha tone putting goosebumps over Basil’s body and tightening the already hard erection in his shorts.

“Will you get rid of him?”

The Alpha let out a small laugh. “As you wish, Basil. Come on, Seth. I think your brother would like some time alone.”

Seth muttered some intelligible curses as he retreated into the house and Basil breathed long through his nose, enjoying Jake’s scent even as he retreated again to follow Seth out to the car and see him off.

It was going to be a challenge losing this heat but he supposed it could be worse. Seth could have picked him an Alpha who was ugly. At the very least, he had a handsome man to look at…someone to imagine later when he touched himself. Long black dreadlocks that formed a held-back mane that cascaded down his broad, strong back…deep nearly-black pools that were his eyes and straight white teeth that dazzled Basil in a brilliant smile. Oh yes, Seth could have done worse by him—by a long shot. Basil was still smiling, feeling more butterflies coming to him as the others left, pattering over his arms and even some on his legs and ankles, sipping at him the way he wished he might sip at the Alpha inside.

It was the heat, he thought though he could not be certain anymore. He was never like this…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Twink boutta pounce.


	4. Chapter 4

Once Seth had packed up and gone, Jake left Basil on the porch and took a small walk around to examine the property. The barn was a large, newer structure with a poured concrete floor and nice, even steps that led up to a very large and very empty loft area. Under a gray tarp and sitting close to the back wall of the barn was the Pontiac Seth had mentioned—a long, metallic blue _Le Mans_ that teased Jake with its prominent sex appeal. He peeked under the tarp in a few places, giving out a low, appreciative whistle to himself. It was a damn fine car.

Behind the barn was a bit of yard that sloped upwards at the back toward the road which was hidden behind a row of stubby pines and the gravel driveway that came down was near to the drive of the house on the northern border. Should there be anyone approaching by car, Jake would very likely see them. He crunched over the gravel back to the house and examined the lock on the back door.

_It’ll need a new one. A stronger one._ He thought he’d seen some long screws and nails in a sealed canister in the barn so he went back to it, fishing out some four-inch screws and determining that he’d like to replace the screws in the existing strike plate to anchor it down better. Such a thing was often overlooked by those wishing to secure their houses against forced entry and it was one of the least work-intensive ways of preventing it. Of course, there was only this door and the sliding glass door that he had to worry about and so it took him just a half an hour to modify this one to his liking. It was no Alpha-proof lock but it was a start.

Satisfied for now, he came around the house again and peered down at the Omega who was, by this time, covered in about fifteen to twenty butterflies who fluttered about and kissed his skin. Jake felt the stirrings of an inexplicable jealousy run through him and he frowned at himself. How could a man be jealous of a butterfly? To have such freedom as to touch this heated Omega—this beautiful and delicate and handsome creature who clutched at his violin like a child clutches a teddy…yes, he was certainly jealous.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, already formulating a plan for what he wanted to do next. He merely needed Basil’s full cooperation and then he could work on getting rid of what was really nudging at him—that heat! It wouldn’t be comfortable for either of them to be existing so near to each other in states like this. It would have to be dealt with—and relatively quickly.

“I’m a little tired.”

“Do you think you might like to float about on a tube? Your brother told me there are some inner tubes in the shed down there…I thought it might be a good idea to cool you off a bit.”

Basil’s mouth curved and Jake thought he might have detected a bit of mischief in it. “Do I have to put on my own sunscreen?” He cracked an eye, watching for Jake’s reaction to the tease.

Jake let him have a little chuckle. “In this case, Basil, yes. You’re going to have to put on your own sunscreen.”

“Mmm…” He took a sudden deep breath in and opened his eyes. “Have you um…did you uh…” He sighed, standing up suddenly. It was sudden enough that Jake stood with him, putting out his hands as though to steady him. When it wasn’t necessary, the Alpha watched him pull the sliding glass door open, finding the stand for his violin and the bow to put them down before he began to shuffle to the back door.

“Where are you going, Basil? Is there something I can get for you?”

“No. No…I…I have to do it.”

Jake’s mouth tightened. Basil was going to lock the door. Despite the fact that Jake had most certainly done so previously, Basil was not to be swayed. Even his own eyes could not help him, as eyes could be tricky when it came to whether a brass lock was twisted one way or another. The Alpha followed, watching Basil come to the door and look at it for a few seconds, his shoulders shivering a little before he reached forward and Jake spoke.

“Basil?”

He swallowed. “Yeah?”

“Have you ever heard of magic numbers?”

His hand was halfway up, stuck there in space as though he really didn’t want to do what he was about to do, trembling as it hung there. “No.”

“My grandmother believes in the magic of numbers. Numerology or something like that and other ways of looking at them. She thinks that some numbers are lucky. To go above them or below them is unlucky. But if you miss one…there’s another lucky one just around the bend. A second chance, if you believe in that kind of thing.”

Basil’s hand made it to the doorknob, his thumb resting on the lock.

“One of her magic numbers is three. The next is five. The next is seven.”

“You think I can stop at three?” Basil’s query ended with an incredulous laugh.

“I think you can stop at seven. Seven is the luckiest of numbers. If you stop at seven, that lock won’t let any man get through it.”

“Is that what _you_ believe, Alpha?”

“Wholeheartedly,” he claimed, his scent steady and sure. There was no hint of dishonesty in him and he clearly dared Basil to challenge him. “Why shouldn’t things be magic, after all?”

“You didn’t mention this to Seth.”

“Does Seth seem like the kind of man who believes in magic?”

Basil smiled, his eyes training on his thumb that was resting on the lock. “Seth doesn’t believe in a lot of things.”

“Do you?”

His arm twitched and his fingers unlocked the door, twisting it from its original position and then back.

“One,” Jake stated calmly, causing Basil to pause. He waited, the Omega staring down at the lock with apprehension. When he repeated the motion, Jake’s voice was soft. “Two.” Again. “Three.” At this number, Basil’s hand dropped from the knob and he stared at it fixedly, the muscles in his arms giving small spasms as he fought to control it, an odd must underneath his heat scent striking in its intensity.

“I can’t stop myself, Alpha. But you can stop me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your Alpha voice.” He lifted his hand again, clicking the lock for the fourth time. “If you use it, I’ll be compelled to stop.”

“Does that work on you?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Do I have your consent to compel you to stop?”

“Yes.” He swallowed, clicking the lock for the fifth time.”

“Okay. Then I will compel you to stop on the seventh time.”

Basil huffed. “Why the seventh?”

“Seven is a lucky number. Not only that but it’ll fix you to number seven. Eventually, you will have your own, instinctive response to stop there. It’ll let you go through with your compulsions if you have to and it will stop you at a reasonable, fulfilling number.”

He clicked it again.

“Six,” Jake told him softly.

_Click._

“ _Seven._ ” It wasn’t a “stop” but it would have the same effect. It rumbled out of him like a sharp crack of thunder and Basil took in a hard gasp at the sound of it. His hand shot from the lock as if the metal itself had become white-hot and he held his fingers to his chest. Jake let him breathe for a few moments before he continued in his usual soft tone. “You’re alright, Omega. Can I touch you?”

He couldn’t respond for a few seconds but managed to nod, wetness forming in his eyes.

“Okay. You’re okay.” He moved to Basil’s side, slipping one big hand around the back of his neck to provide just the slightest amount of pressure. Predictably, Basil’s tension-threaded muscles relaxed and he was able to look up into Jake’s eyes. There was fatigue there, he could see, but it wasn’t enough for him to let the guy off the hook. “How about a dip in the lake, huh? Grab your trunks, I’ll grab mine, and we’ll walk down together. A little float on an inner tube won’t kill you.”

When Basil went to comply, Jake was left alone in the back room. The couch was a pull-out and being so close to the back door during the night was the benefit of making this room his head-quarters. This way, Basil wouldn’t be able to come out and lock this door during the night and it was at least one door that he could keep tabs on. The sliding glass one at the very least could be wedged shut with a piece of two-by-four that Seth had showed him was used for when they weren’t about. That, he thought, would go a long way in making the place palatable for Basil’s nerves.

As white as Basil seemed to be with his blue eyes and his shocking red hair, he seemed even paler than Jake could have imagined. He was wearing a light gray tank top over brightly-colored swimming shorts and his arms and shoulders were peppered with freckles, leaving the rest revealed in all their fish-belly coloring. He’d clearly not been out in the sun enough though he likely wouldn’t have had the chance anyway, it being only early summer. This would no doubt be good for him, the Alpha thought.

They walked together down the steep hill toward the lake, Jake carrying the towels while Basil wobbled unsteadily in his sandals past the jutting tree roots and uneven ground until he was safely on the warm surface of the wooden dock. The Omega left his shoes to the side and walked barefooted to the end, his toes just against the edge which made the Alpha a little nervous considering the state of him—what if he fell in? What if he couldn’t hold himself up by his own treading?

“How do you feel, Basil?”

He turned around, squinting in the sun. “Hot.”

“Alright. Here’s the Banana Boat. Get some on yourself before you fry like the little piece of bacon you are.”

Basil smiled. “Are you calling me delicious?”

“As a professional, I will not be answering that question.”

He was still smiling. “What about as a man and an Alpha?”

“I am neither of those when I’m with you, Basil. I’m just Jake. The bodyguard.”

Basil approached him and took the sunscreen, popping open the lid and taking a huge dollop of it into his palm so he could partition it out and systematically coat himself with it over his arms, neck, and shoulders. He rubbed it into his face and over the tops of his ears, taking care not to miss any spots that he could reach. “What about my back, Alpha?”

“I’ll get your back.”

“Make sure to get under my waistband,” he replied. “In case my trunks shift.”

Jake puffed out an amused sigh through his nose while he took the tube. “Alright, Omega.” When he was sufficiently slathered, Jake made sure to use some of the sunscreen on himself before he came to the shed and used the keys Seth had showed him to open it. There were a few inner tubes and most of them didn’t look like they needed any extra pumping though there was a small bike pump inside just in case they had needed a top-off. He pulled out two reasonably sized tubes and tossed them into the water. With the way the water was lapping at the wooden walls that held up the edges of the lake to stave off erosion, they wouldn’t migrate outside of the dock area.

Basil stared at them. But he wasn’t staring at them. He was staring into the water.

“What’s wrong?” Jake asked, plodding onto the sturdy dock toward him. “Something in the water?”

“Yeah…”

He looked down into it but could see nothing past the reflection of the bright sun which rippled with the tiny waves. “What is it?”

The Omega swallowed, his heat scent tinged with anxiety. “Secrets.”

“You’re going to tell me that but then consider it odd that I believe in the magic of numbers? Alright…what kind of secrets are we talkin’?” He put his hands on his hips, waiting for something decent at least.

“Would you laugh at me if I said I thought that someone’s cousin was probably buried at the bottom of this lake somewhere?”

“If you’re worried about swimming in corpse water, you might as well tell me now because I’m one hundred percent that fish die in this lake every day.” With that, he crossed his arms. “Do you think there’s a corpse where you’re going to step on it?”

Basil visually shuddered. “N-No…”

“Then we’re getting in. Would you like me to carry you?”

“Yes…”

He nodded. “Fair. Hold onto me around my neck.” He lifted Basil into his arms like a bride and carried him down. The water was cold but relatively warm, he thought, when it came to lake water versus such huge bodies like the ocean. When the surface of it hit Basil’s rump—as that was naturally the spot that it would find first—the boy tensed and recoiled from the cool sensation. In time, however, as he was placed within it gradually, he relaxed more and more, his expression that of relief rather than anxiety.

“Oh god…” Basil sighed.

“Feels good, huh?” It felt incredible to Jake. Struck hard by the closeness of Basil’s heat scent, his cock was rock hard in his shorts, thrusting out at the material and angered by the barrier of mesh inside. The cold water soothed his rut in much the same manner as it could soothe an Omega’s heat. He brought Basil down into the lake until just his head was above the surface and he exalted in the man’s response, his head tucking against Jake’s shoulder as he panted in his comfort. “This is why I wanted you in the water. Ain’t nothin’ like mother nature to know just what can take away these aches.”

“Mother nature is the bitch who gave me these aches,” he breathed. “Don’t put me down. I don’t want my feet to the bottom.”

“I won’t put you down. Eventually I’m going to put you on that tube right there and when the heat’s too much for you, you can dip yourself in through the middle. Never have to touch your feet down if you don’t want to.”

“If you crush a skeleton, I expect you to tell me.”

Jake smiled. “You are impossible.”

“Mmm…” he groaned, his eyes still closed as he wallowed in the cool water. “I guess you’ll have plenty to chat with Seth about, won’t you? About how impossible I am.”

“You wouldn’t be a client of mine without being at least a little impossible.”

“Oh yeah? I’m not the worst?”

“Not by far. Ready for the tube?”

“Yeah. I think. Though I think I like being in your arms.” He didn’t protest, nevertheless, when he was lifted and deposited into one of the inner tubes, left to float with his hands out to guide him in paddling off to the sides. 

Jake dipped himself below the surface of the water to come up on the inside of his own tube, manipulating it until he was lounging safely by Basil’s side, keeping himself steady with his legs before he stretched to pull his small, waterproof binoculars out of his pocket.

Basil frowned. “What are those for?”

“I like watching birds.”

“Birds, huh?”

Jake peered through the lens, scanning the opposite shoreline, sure that he would know immediately if he saw what he was looking for. He was finished in a minute or two, confident that he had not seen it. Only a boy playing with his dog and a few small songbirds sitting on the edges of empty docks. “Yeah,” he replied absentmindedly as he tucked the binoculars away. “You’ve got your butterflies. I’ve got my birds.”

“Okay,” Basil said lightly, peering out where Jake had been looking. “Birds…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah....yeah.... _birds._


	5. Chapter 5

Basil’s heat wasn’t going away with something so simple as a swim and deep down he knew it, but he wasn’t willing to give up on the idea until he was laying down in his bed and staring up at the ceiling still shivering despite his fever. He had kicked all the blankets to the end of the mattress and he could feel the dampness over him soaking into the sheets beneath him. He was tired—bone-tired—but he couldn’t sleep. It wasn’t quite all the way dark yet and he knew Jake was still moving around in the cottage, up doing god-knows-what. He could imagine him wandering the inside of the house, peering out the windows in dim rooms, his sharp Alpha eyes looking for danger in the dark of dusk.

_A monster was there creeping about. Darkened in shadow and made of moonlight and dust. Broad-shouldered with arms and legs that were long and spidery. Teeth that were too sharp. A creature more than a man who stalked his prey and reached through the cracks in doorways with thin pale fingers…_

He turned his head to look toward his window. The blinds were closed and had to remain that way according to Jake. It was prudent, Basil understood. Still, he could see the orangeness of the sunset outside and he sat up, swinging his legs to the side of the bed and making to get up. He didn’t want to be alone. He didn’t want to lay in this room that was halfway to unfamiliar and sleep by himself. This wasn’t his home and he was much too anxious to close his eyes and find comfort here.

He shuffled barefoot out the door and down the short hallway. Yellow light shone from the kitchen, spilling from the doorway into the small open dining room and he found Jake immediately, sitting at the table with a cup of coffee and an open paperback in front of him.

“You smell nervous,” Jake told him, the heavy scent of lust from his rut spiking with Basil’s entrance.

“I smell horny,” Basil mumbled, rubbing at the back of his head with his palm. His fingers ached and he looked at them in their splints and taped together. “I can’t sleep.”

“You want some _Z-Quil_?” He put the book down on its pages, split open on the table, and took off his reading glasses, hanging them from the neck of his tank top. God was he handsome.

“I don’t know…” He came around to the other side of the small table and stared at Jake’s coffee mug. “I’m tired…but…I keep having these thoughts.” His breath in was shuddering and difficult.

“You want some coffee?”

“I can’t have caffeine. It makes it worse.” He rubbed at his eyes now, wishing they didn’t feel as gritty as they did. When he blinked them open again, they were moist and Jake was blurry. “I keep thinking there’s got to be someone outside. That there’s someone lurking just outside the windows…everywhere in the dark. It’s…it’s different here. Anyone could look into my windows here and they’d be standing on the ground…”

“The blinds and the curtains are closed. In New York yeah you were several stories up, but your whole living room was shown off with a plate glass wall. Anyone with high-powered lenses could see into your apartment.” Jake took a sip of his coffee and regarded Basil with such patience that it almost hurt the Omega to look at him. “Tomorrow we’re going to go down to the hardware store in town and we’re gonna get you some Alpha-proof locks. You can lock them seven times.”

Basil felt the edge of his mouth tick up in a ghost of a smile. “Each?”

“Each if necessary. We’ll wedge the sliding glass door with the two-by-four every night and I’ll even switch out the window panes for bulletproof ones if you want.”

“All of them?”

“Let’s start with the picture windows and the glass door, how about that?”

Basil could still feel his heart pounding in his chest. His manhood was pulsing in his boxers, tenting them under the table. He couldn’t look at Jake’s face but he could admire the curve of his biceps and the form of his forearms. The Alpha’s hands were big and when he’d held Basil that day, he’d been unerringly gentle. Basil licked his lips, his heart starting to creep into his throat. “Uh…Jake?”

“Yes, Basil?”

“I am…” He let out a loose breath and chuckled with it, feeling tears pooling in his eyes.

The Alpha just barely tilted his head.

“I am…in…a lot of pain a-and…” Wetness slid down his cheeks.

Jake’s fingers laced together over the top of his paperback and the Alpha leaned forward on his forearms, his scent so very close and alluring that Basil could have screamed. His voice was so soft despite the Alpha edge that lurked beneath it and he spoke plainly. “Your brother hired me because he knew that I was a professional. I’m a bodyguard, Basil. I’m not a prostitute.”

He could have crumpled and he did, mostly. His elbows came to the surface of the table and he buried his head in his arms, weeping fitfully and pathetically. “I just want it to _stop_. I just want it to go _away_. I want to be myself again. Why c-can’t he just leave me al-alone?” He shook, his emotions choking him until all that was left of the world was the darkness of his arms and the ringing in his ears. Jake’s voice pierced through it, too loud despite its quietness.

“May I touch you, Omega?”

“That’s…that’s all I’m asking…”

There was a puff of a sigh. “That’s not all you’re asking and you know it. A simple touch, Basil. That’s all I can offer.”

He raised his head from his arms, unable to see through the blur of his tears as he nodded, still giving out sobs. “Yes. _Yes…_ ”

The touch was soft but firm and Basil hadn’t even known that Jake had moved until he was behind him, his hand taking up the whole of the Omega’s neck, pressing down on those calming pressure points with such brutal gentleness that an inadvertent and stilted cry was forced from his lips. He felt slick gush from his body. Too much of it to soak into the pad in his briefs but he couldn’t say anything. He would just have to get up from his damp seat with a pool of it left in the wooden chair’s dip. The warmth of it began to drip down his calves and he realized then that it was so much more than he’d expected.

Jake noticed, his fingers gently kneading into Basil’s neck. “That’s alright, Omega. That’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

_It’s embarrassing._ Still, he couldn’t get himself to really care about it. How could he? When this hand over him was so perfect? He shivered and shuddered and gave out stunted sobs of relief. Still—it wasn’t enough. His body was begging. He needed more. _It’s embarrassing!_ He vaguely recognized that he was drooling. Just the simple touch of an Alpha after so many horrible nights without one and just a touch could do this to him. His breath caught in his throat and his abdomen tightened as his face pinched and—

He came.

Basil let out a heavy and tortured breath, his whole form making the attempt to relax after his climax but, as was expected, he twitched and leaked and tensed intermittently. There was a line of saliva connecting his lip to the table.

_I’m pathetic._

His fingers hurt. He was gripping the edges of his wet seat hard and it was the pain from this grip that brought him back from the ether.

“L-l-let me g-go.”

Jake did so slowly, making sure to rub at his flesh before his fingers fully left him. The mark of an Alpha who empathized—who knew what it was like to be so desperate. This seemed like something that might, for some Alphas, be far beyond the pale. For an Omega to use a touch like that to come—not that Basil knew it would happen quite like it did—was some kind of fucked up wasn’t it?

He pried his fingers from the sides of his seat and then got up. He staggered a bit as he left the room, using the wall for support until he was back inside his bedroom, slick causing the seat of his shorts to stick to his backside uncomfortably while excess slid down his calves again, tickling his ankles until it could soak into the carpet in a trail. He stripped off every bit of his clothes and left them by the bathroom door, setting the shower on the coldest setting before he climbed in and let himself soak. He felt like steam could have risen from his body for how hot he was though he shivered as the stream rinsed off his come and his slick.

When it was enough, he shut it off and dried his hair as best he could before he got into the bed again, covering his nakedness with a thin sheet. He wanted the Alpha…but this would have to be enough for now. He fell into a fitful slumber and when he woke, he slipped one of his pillows between his thighs and rocked his hips until the comforting friction had driven him to another orgasm.

His bedroom smelled like slick and heat but when he emerged into the hall, he was surprised to note that the cottage had a fresh scent—that of open air and lake. The sunlight was streaming in through the windows and he could hear Jake moving around in the kitchen.

“Basil,” Jake said from the other side of the wall. “Breakfast is in the sunroom. We’re going to get some new doors today.”

His cheeks were pink and he couldn’t meet Jake’s eyes when he wandered into the kitchen where the Alpha was peeling an orange. He’d thoroughly humiliated himself the previous evening and the man had clearly cleaned up the puddle of slick he’d left behind on the chair. He felt like such a fool—Omegas begging for aid during heats was always cast as something hideously pathetic; something that drove plotlines…not something that actual people did. Though, he admitted to himself, there were limits to a man’s ability to deny himself when it came to this. A week of heat was easy to ignore. This had been far longer than a week and he was beginning to understand that every human being had a breaking point. Was this his?

Basil was already sweating into his clean t-shirt, his hair damp and messy from having been slept on while mostly wet. He sat down and nibbled toast.

“More than the toast,” Jake told him when he entered the sunroom, his flip-flops sounding much too cheery on his feet. “You have to eat two cups of eggs,” He used a measuring cup to scoop eggs onto a plate. “Three pieces of bacon,” he continued, serving the bacon, “and this whole smoothie.” He put a large glass in front of him with a greenish smoothie in it that smelled like mushy bananas. “You spent a lot of energy yesterday and you’re going to spend a lot today too.”

“What is this?” he managed, twisting the glass around.

“Sugar, protein, and vitamins.”

Basil felt his brows come down and then looked up out the windows of the sunroom, peering over the driveway and toward the barn. The door to the barn was open and the Pontiac was sitting inside without its tarp, ready to go. He didn’t complain though he could have. He had a few things he wanted to say but kept them to himself. After all, one couldn’t really complain about much to their bodyguard after a night like last night. Basil had been the one taking advantage of him…how could he complain about the Alpha taking care of him like this?

“The back door is sufficient the way it is,” Jake told him, sitting across from him and helping himself to a healthy amount of eggs. “I’m going to order glass for some of the windows and the sliding door. We’re going to get Alpha-proof door and window locks, and we’re going to replace some of the doors with ones an Alpha can’t break through.”

“Which doors?”

“This sunroom door, and your bedroom door. If someone were to get into the house, I want there to be at least one place you can find refuge.”

Basil nodded. It wasn’t a bad idea. “What if…”

“What if?”

“What if he got me in there and you couldn’t get in to rescue me?” It sounded stupid even as it left his mouth. But that was the kind of thing that would terrify him at night.

“Basil, I’d turn into a wrecking ball to get to you. This guy’s a coward. He’s not going to smash through a wall for you. But I will.” He bit a piece of bacon in half, smiling while he chewed. “Eat. We’re not leaving until you’ve finished your plate.”

“It’s not smart for me to go out like this.”

“If a man can’t control himself around you, that’s on him and he has to deal with me. We’ll be fine.”

He took a deep breath and hoped—really hoped—Jake was right.

_I really want to be fine. Please. Let me be fine._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I fucking love this chapter. Something about making Basil come like this just gives me life.


	6. Chapter 6

The nearest town was only about ten minutes away and the hardware store was a little independent place Jake had found on his phone. It was a decent size and had the stock he needed and so when he took Basil inside, he was happy to note that it was organized sensibly and mostly empty. Basil’s heat scent was soaked up by the scent of metal and lumber, providing just a hint of its sweetness if Jake was more than ten feet away from him. Of course, being so far from him was rare and he kept one eye on him wherever he went. He had scanned the area around the small gravel parking lot and he kept a glance or two over toward the wide front windows every so often as well.

Many times, a stalker would choose another target if their own left but in some cases, they followed when possible. This was possible…but not probable. Still, Jake was in no way unprepared for that eventuality and so he would keep his promise and keep Basil safe…for as long as was required. He tried to imagine how his life might change when Basil’s heat was gone…when his fingers were healed…when he was confident enough to go back to performing. Would Jake stay with him? Would he travel the world with this enigmatic, beautiful little creature whose eyes shimmered pale blue in the sunlight? Could he live like that? Could he watch this lovely young thing take lovers, take a mate? Could he survive should he have to protect him and an Alpha who had taken him?

Jake felt a prick of jealousy stab at him and he chastised himself as he looked through the Alpha-proof locks and the heavy door he thought he would choose. He had no right to this Omega. Not only that, but as a professional, he couldn’t allow himself to get caught up in Basil’s personal life. This was a job and nothing more. He’d done things just like this before and none of those clients had ever become anything more than just professional relations…but this? Spending days on end with a man who was desperate in heat—even just what had happened the previous night was too close for comfort. He’d known as soon as he put his hand to the Omega that the end result was going to be a regretful climax.

He almost felt sorry for having done it but Basil’s mood this morning was a bit on the lighter side and he hadn’t yet fallen into any of his typical mind traps. He was interestedly looking at some of the locks nearby and touching them with curious fingers. Jake couldn’t imagine what in the world he could have been thinking while looking at them—perhaps how easy it might be to fall into the cycle of locking them. It wasn’t fathomable to the Alpha to have something that was absolutely imperative that made no sense in the slightest.

“Basil?” he asked, holding up one of the handles that came with a lock. When the Omega’s gaze was drawn, he motioned to it. “It’s got an indicator…red and green. Red for locked. Do you think…”

“Do I think it will help? No. But it’s a decent thought. You might get that one. Could try to train me.”

“So even if it was red…and you saw that it was…”

“I would still do it. It’s not like I’m unaware of how it happens in my head. Half of it is a compulsion and half of it is the fact that doing it feels right. It’s a comfort of sorts. If someone who’s compelled to shout holds it in, it’s frustrating, it’s maddening…same for me. I can hold it back…but it’s almost painful to do it.”

He nodded. “So there’s no real reason involved.”

“You knew that already,” Basil replied, smiling a little at himself.

“Well, yeah. But it’s hard for logic-brain to wrap around something that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. You’ll have to remind me, I think. Just tell me to stop over-thinking it.”

Basil barked out a small laugh. “That’s funny. Seth used to tell me that I was the one over-thinking everything. But in reality, it takes absolutely no thought at all.”

“Baffling.”

“Tell me about it.” He hugged himself, looking up at the high ceiling. “Thank god for air conditioning. I was worried I was going to die in here.”

The Alpha nodded grimly. “We’ll go for a dip in the lake when we get back. How’s that sound?”

“It sounds good, actually. I can’t believe I’m saying that. I still don’t want my feet touching the bottom.” Sweat was dripping slowly down the side of his face from his temple and there was a damp patch between his shoulder blades on his gray t-shirt.

“I think we can arrange that,” Jake replied, picking the lock with the indicator and walking up to the counter to speak with the man who looked to be counting through a shipment of some kind.

“You’re drivin’ Walt’s old Pontiac. You a friend of the family?”

Basil shuffled up in his flip flops behind Jake and spoke. “Yeah. He’s a good friend. You know my father?”

“I do. Name’s Jeffery. You sure you ought to be out like this? You must be his youngest…look just like your father, you do.”

“I’ll do as I like.”

The Alpha gave a hard glance toward Jake who schooled his expression to remain flat. “What can I do for you boys today?”

Jake explained the improvements they were to make and they left with locks and orders for shipments of doors to be delivered the next morning. The glass for the sliding door would have to be cut to the measurements and would arrive in the next few days but Jake wasn’t concerned. They could have had plenty of time…or they could have had none. It wouldn’t make much of a difference either way. Jake would kill whoever dared come for Basil—there was nothing left to it. The only true difference was how quickly the man would come to his end.

On the way back, Jake stopped at an ice cream parlor and brought Basil the cone of strawberry he’d asked for and they sat in the shade with their ice cream while the birds sang in the trees and the Omega’s heat scent wafted through the slight warm breeze. It was comfortable despite the constant rut he was in and he liked being close to the sweet violinist even with the tension he naturally carried.

“You’ve been very quiet today,” Jake told him, watching a butterfly flutter through the air and land delicately upon Basil’s messy, damp hair.

“I’m quiet every day.”

“Granted. But you’re extra quiet today.”

Basil shrugged, dislodging the butterfly who was undaunted and sought out his collarbone, landing on the darker patch of his shirt where his sweat had soaked through. “I’m just thinking.”

“If you’re embarrassed about last night, you can stop. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“Mmm…” Basil smiled, looking off into the trees that surrounded the lot. “That’s where you’d be very wrong. You’re not supposed to be absolutely pathetic on your heat. I’ve been through a lot of heats before. I’m not _that_ young. I’ve had plenty. It can get dicey but I’ve never…been like that.”

“You’ve been in heat for several weeks. You should probably be in the hospital.”

He licked at his ice cream. “Maybe. Seth said there’s a doctor in town here who would make house calls.”

“We’ll call him.”

“I don’t need him.”

Jake had been prepared to tell Basil that he had to get checked out by a physician, but that was before. Even in the short while they’d been at the lake, he’d gained a bit of color in his cheeks and there was an energy to him that was more than just the work of the protein smoothie he’d consumed. There was some quality to him that was different than when he was in the city here and Jake was determined to keep that up. It was almost like there was more _life_ in him now.

The Alpha nodded. “I’ll take your word on that. Just because I can see you doing better. You look less tired.”

“Oh I’m just as tired.”

“Are you arguing for me to make you see a doctor?” He raised his brows, placing his sunglasses on top of his head to look at Basil with an unfiltered gaze. “You’re doing really well. It might not feel like it but you can’t see yourself the way I can see you. You’re doing alright. We’ll go home, we’ll get you in your swim trunks, and we’ll have you in the lake. You’ll get a little sun, you’ll have a good time and cool off a bit, and then we can determine what you wanna do after that. How’s that?”

“Alpha,” he sighed. “I’ve got just one thing I’ve wanted to do for the last few weeks and I’m one-hundred percent still embarrassed about it.”

Jake grinned. “You know, most people have toys for that kind of thing. You have any?”

“It wasn’t recommended. Not for my case. Extreme stress heats can wear away at the resolve…can make it so you accidentally hurt yourself. So…I tried to stay away from that.”

He sniffed. “Damned if you do and damned if you don’t, huh? That’s brutal.”

“Tell me about it. I just need this fever to break…” He bit into his cone, licking his petal pink lips with a careful tongue. “Then I can get back to normal. Then I can have these fucking fingers heal and be back to what I do best.”

“And what’s that?”

“Be a complete and utter mess…but travel while doing it,” he joked.

“At least you still have your sense of humor.”

Basil was smiling and he passed Jake a meaningful glance. “That was you, you know. You did that.”

“I did that?” A warm spot began to spread in his chest.

“Yeah…how could anyone have a sense of humor around Seth?”

That was a legitimate concern, Jake thought as he finished his cone and turned the Pontiac on, shifting into reverse and pulling back out on onto the road back to the cottage. The butterfly that was sipping on Basil stayed with him the whole way back to the cottage and only left when it spotted the butterfly bush, fluttering off while his brethren discovered Basil again and came around him as a type of insect entourage that had to be shooed off before he came into the house.

With his swim things on, Basil wandered down to the lake with him and sat on the dock with his feet dangling above the water’s surface while he slathered himself with the sunblock. “Jake?” came his soft voice from where he sat. “Will you…”

The Alpha came to him, sitting near to him and making certain his back was fully covered. He was pale and lightly freckled…even on his hips. His skin was soft and moist and despite smelling like sweetness and Banana Boat, Jake wished for nothing more than permission to press his lips against it.

“Would it be wrong,” Basil began, “to tell you that I…I like your hands on me?”

“The word ‘inappropriate’ comes to mind.”

“Do you…dislike me?” The query came with a must to his scent beneath the heady arousal of his constant heat. It would hurt him if Jake told him he did…but he didn’t. It wasn’t abnormal for these sorts of questions to occur in these circumstances but still, it took Jake off guard.

“No. Actually, I like you very much.”

“What if I fired you?”

He smiled. “Then I would find another job. Where is this going, Basil?”

“I want to have sex with you.” He tentatively turned his head to peer over his shoulder, his glances furtive as though he found it difficult to meet Jake’s eyes. It had been blurted and awkward but the lake’s small waves lapped at the posts of the dock and birds twittered in the huge tree behind them and peace was all around.

It wasn’t that it was surprising, it was simply odd to hear it stated so plainly. He blinked, looking out at the shimmering reflections on the water. “You’ve been in heat a very long time. I cannot, ethically, take advantage of you when there is a good chance you could regret having an intimate relationship with me. Not just because I’m your bodyguard, but because I like to think I’m a decent Alpha.”

Basil took in a breath and shuddered out a sigh. “You’re one of those people who think Omegas can’t make decisions during their heats, huh?”

“That’s not what I meant and no. I don’t think that.” He came to sit next to Basil, dangling his legs in the same manner and dipping his toes into the cool water. “I think you’ve been through a very terrible ordeal…you’re still working through it. If I could be the type of Alpha who could separate intimacy from feelings…then I think it could be possible for me to help you. But I’m not.”

He sniffed a laugh. “You think you’ll fall in love with me.”

“I think I would create a connection to you that would not be in our best interests.”

“If you think sex would make that connection…aren’t you halfway there already?”

He stared at the Omega’s lips, wondering just how soft they might have felt. “How long do you think I’m going to be with you, Basil? It’s been days.”

“I don’t know.”

“I don’t want to be paid for sex. I didn’t sign up for that.”

There were suddenly tears in those blue eyes and Jake immediately regretted saying it. Basil’s voice was choked. “I don’t want you to think I’m using you.”

“Wouldn’t you be?”

He laid back on the bare dock, his eyes closed and his arm cast over them as Jake stared down at him. A strong unstable aroma was wafting out of him and he breathed hard. “I told Seth I didn’t need an Alpha. But he got me you. Now it’s all I can think about. It’s all I want. You’re so good at controlling yourself around me and I’m…I’m the pathetic one. I’m the desperate one. I can come just from your hand on my _neck._ ”

Jake sighed through his nose. “How about a dip in the lake, huh? Cool you down a bit.”

“It won’t matter. Tonight I’ll have the same urges I do now. Tomorrow. The next day. The day after that.” He rolled to the side, the seat of his swim shorts soaked through with slick, a wet spot clearly visible on the dock’s surface where he’d been sitting. “It’s not going to stop.”

“It’ll stop. When your stress is lessened and you’re comfortable again, it’ll stop.”

He gave a little sob. “Will you…will you do me a favor, Alpha?”

“What’s that?”

“If I ask it of you…will you touch my neck? Like you did last night?”

He was conflicted at the first, uncertain. Surely there were downsides to that…but at the very least, it was only a touch. Was it better than being used for sex? Perhaps…perhaps not. But for Jake, it was less of a connection…it was less intimate. And so… “Yes, Basil. I’ll touch your neck if you ask.”

He sobbed again but regained his composure in time, slowly making his way into the water with Jake behind him, the Alpha unsure how long he could last here. How long he could keep all of this up. How long he could keep himself to just this touch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jake is doomed.


	7. Chapter 7

His body was on fire. He was wrapped in a towel, his swim shorts still damp while he leaned against the side of the house and watched Jake working with the power tools to install the new door to the outside. The whirr of the power tools had made some of the nearby birds curious and they all chattered together in a nearby set of bushes, the cacophony of sounds beginning to grate on Basil’s ears. He could feel the wisps of the butterfly wings on his ears while they gathered around him but he couldn’t pay attention to that.

Jake was suddenly looking at him, his deep brown eyes focused on the lock that was in Basil’s hands, loose and useless. “Are you going to lock that, Basil?”

He glanced down at it. “For what? Practice?” He smiled at his own joke, feeling tired and restless. He wanted to lay down. He wanted to _be_ laid down. He wanted to open his thighs around a strong Alpha and get knotted before he fell asleep in his arms. Even while his laughter died away, he clicked the lock.

“One.”

He froze, his heart thudding in his chest as he realized Jake was going to let him get to seven. A dribble of slick ran down the back of his thigh and he could feel his lower lip trembling. He knew the Alpha could smell it. There was no breeze and the air was stagnant with the sweet scent of his heat and tang of the slick that was trickling down toward his ankle. He clicked the lock again.

“Two.”

His abdomen tensed and released with a flutter of apprehension. He didn’t _want_ to hear Jake’s _Alpha_ voice when he hit seven but there was a fire in him that teased him toward it. It wished to flirt with danger and know that there was an Alpha here who would take charge of him. He wanted to rile. He wanted to make Jake see him and know him and _take_ him. He clicked it again.

“Three.”

“Jake…”

“You can get to seven. Seven is a good number.” He watched Basil with a certain amount of intensity that was making the Omega shiver with it. His eyes flitted down toward the drip of slick then back up to his face.

“If I stop before seven…” he paused, holding his hands still. “…will you…”

“Yes.”

A lump was in his throat and a slight panic welled up in his chest when he dropped the lock to the ground.

Jake let a smile spread over his face. “Is that all it takes?”

“Touch me,” he pleaded. “Please.”

“It’s going to be a hard day for you, isn’t it?” he asked as he got up, brushing off his hands on his shorts. “After this, you’re gonna take a shower and eat some lunch, okay?”

Basil couldn’t respond. All he could focus on was how he was going to press himself against Jake’s chest and wrap his arms around him. He was going to fill himself up with the scent of this handsome, caring Alpha and he was going to be _close_. He was going to be held. He dropped his towel and grabbed at Jake’s black tank top, pulling the man to him until he was tight against him. He gasped at the brush of one big hand which came over the back of his neck and he felt his cock jump even as it was pressed against Jake’s upper thigh.

The Alpha enveloped Basil in his arms, his body feeling warm despite the fact that Basil must have been so much hotter. Jake’s touch was all around him, the hand on the back of his neck placing just the slightest bit of pressure on him—enough to drive him to the brink at least.

“Jake,” he breathed hard. “Jake, _please_. _Alpha_ …”

“I’m not supposed to do this…but god you test me, Omega.” His growl was low, his voice rumbling through Basil’s body and rushing blood to his groin. More slick trickled from his backside, tickling down the backs of his legs and soaking into the seat of his swim shorts. Jake didn’t quit there, his nose against Basil’s hair and his breath skimming over the shell of his ear. “You’re so sweet. You’re so good. I swear I could have lapped at your chair last night like a dog.”

“ _Jake…_ ” he groaned, his hips grinding forward to press his crotch against the man’s thigh while his mouth couldn’t hold his spit, soaking it into the front of the Alpha’s tank top. The hand on the back of his neck tightened slowly and he felt his body tense rhythmically, his breath hitching while his mouth opened. Slick squirted out of him at his climax, dripping from the hem of his shorts onto the gravel below and he felt boneless. His knees relaxed and he suddenly realized that the whole of his weight was supported by the Alpha holding him. He wanted to ask for more. He wanted to feel this man pounding into him over and over. He wanted to scream and grip the headboard with all his might. He wanted to…he wanted to… Basil reached up and with more strength than he thought he had, he pulled at Jake’s shirt and moved to kiss him.

The Alpha pulled back. “Basil…”

“Alpha…” he replied, plying him with a hand over his chest. His broken fingers and their splints he supposed didn’t help his case, making his touch much less soft than he wished.

“Shower. Then lunch.”

There was an ache in him that was less physical and more emotional. He took his shower, put his shorts in the washing machine along with his clothes from the previous evening, and found a turkey sandwich waiting for him when he wandered into the kitchen. In another t-shirt and shorts, he ate his sandwich while he watched Jake finish up installing the door and the lock. When that was finished, he shuffled about watching him work on the other things he’d picked out to do.

He was cleaning out the gutters with the hose when the neighbors meandered their way over, curious as to the action in the normally vacant little cottage.

“Afternoon!” the elderly Alpha greeted, his hand up. Basil stayed close to the house, regarding him with a wariness that was not lost on him. “You’ve got to be Walt’s youngest. I recognize you from when you were a little whipper. You play the uh…the cello?”

“Violin…” he murmured.

“Violin, gosh how could I forget that? Who’s your Alpha here?”

Jake’s scent gathered a bit of an edge to it. An Alpha who was not addressed directly was a very peeved Alpha indeed. “My name is Jake Thompson,” he supplied, climbing down from the short ladder he was on and taking off his gloves to put a hand out.

“Well hello. Phil Anderson. My wife and I live next door. She uh…she looked out and saw a big uh…you know, a big guy out here doing things around the property and she didn’t know what to think, you know?”

Jake’s smile was tight. “I understand. Basil will be spending a little time out here this summer and I’m just around to make some renovations and help him out with anything might need.”

Anderson’s nose was testing the air, no doubt picking up on Basil’s heat scent that had risen after his shower. “Well, I’m sure you’re a real decent help then if Walt trusts you to do it.” His eyes were on Basil, dark and teeming with a silent question. _Are you safe? Is this your Alpha?_

“I’m a close protection agent, sir. Basil is under my care for the duration of my employment with the family.”

He appeared surprised, putting his hands in the pockets of his khaki shorts. “A uh…a close protection agent?”

“A bodyguard, sir.” His voice was clipped and professional and Basil felt his little cock grow hard again at the tone.

“Oh right…because of the uh…the violin?” He appeared a little confused, his eyes darting to the old door that was sitting on the ground.

“Can I ask you a favor, sir?”

“Sure?”

“If you see anything odd around here that you don’t normally see…or if your wife does…could you let me know?”

He grinned a bit. “You mean like a strange Alpha puttin’ doors up next door?”

“Something like that, yes,” Jake replied. “Anyone you’ve never seen before lurking about…if a car pulls into your drive to turn around. Just take note of the details for me.”

Anderson glance back to Basil. “What’s this all about, Alpha?”

“Just a little precaution. There have been some incidents we’d like to avoid repeating.”

“A-Alright. I’ll let the missus know. Uh…have a good one, gentlemen,” he replied, waving a hand toward them both before he moseyed back across the small side yard and around the bushes.

Basil relaxed, letting his muscles loosen a bit as he came off the side of the house and wandered to Jake’s side. “Do you…do you think she saw us…”

“All she would have seen was a comforting hug. Unless she had a pair of binoculars.” He scoffed. “These old folks around here are just looking for trouble. They see a big dark guy like me fucking around with locks and they assume the worst. Hopefully they’ll be on the lookout now for anything else weird. Never underestimate the power of a nosy old bag.”

“So uh…close protection agent?”

“It’s a fancy thing to put on a resume. Close protection training is a must-have and once you’re through it, it’s a good way to make sure people actually look at what you can do.” He smiled and the sight of it made Basil’s heart ache. God he wanted this man.

“So…what all can you…do?”

“I’m proficient in unarmed combat, I’ve got firearm training but I prefer not to keep one, I’m pretty good at losing a tail in a car, and if you’ve been shot I’m damned good at keeping you alive until I get you to a hospital.”

Basil felt his mouth curve at the edges. “You told all this to Seth but…you know…I didn’t hear it.”

The Alpha gave an amused sigh from his nose. “I can protect you, Basil. I can do more than protect you.”

“You could save me.”

“If the need arose, yes. But that need isn’t going to arise. You’re going to be protected enough that you won’t need saving. You’re gonna be just fine.” He turned toward the Omega, a sheen of natural sweat shining over his flesh and causing a stir of arousal and emotion in Basil’s guts.

“I think…” he began, trailing off as uncertainty hit him.

“What’s that?”

“I think…maybe…he was a bodyguard.”

Jake’s brow quirked. “Who?”

He looked at his hand, at his three broken fingers. “Him.”

“Why’s that?”

“Call it a…a hunch. Am I allowed to get hunches? I’m not the _close protection agent._ ” He chuckled at himself. “It’s just that…how he knows things. How he gets to me…”

“Let’s go out to the back porch. Let me get you a tea and we’ll talk this over.”

The butterflies were all over him when he sat down on the back porch, looking out through the branches of the tall tree over the glinting water of the lake. It made sense. How his stalker knew where he would be—what he would do. The intimate details of how he would put his hands into his dresser and where exactly he might put a rat trap to break his fingers. If a man were to think that Basil could only play for _him_ and no one else…? How had he not thought of this before?

Jake came to sit with him, setting Basil’s tea down on the table beside him. “Alright. Tell me. Did you ever have a handler who was inappropriate with you?”

“No…”

“Why do you think it’s a bodyguard?”

“Just…all the little things. How he managed to get into places. He must have known what to say…how to look. He broke into my dressing room at a concert in Los Angeles. He left me flowers and chocolates.”

“You know it was him?”

“He left a note. It was…vaguely threatening.”

Jake nodded. “Your brother mentioned that he was prone to leaving notes. Has he ever been violent before the rat trap?”

“The rat trap, Jake. He knew just where to put it so I wouldn’t see it when I put my hand in. He knew where I would put my hand…I do it the same every time.”

Jake nodded again patiently. “And before…was he ever violent before?”

“N-No…”

“So that was an escalation. If he finds you, he’s likely to escalate again…especially because you now have me.”

Basil felt his heart squeeze in his chest. “W-What do you think he’ll do?”

The Alpha pulled his little binoculars out of his pocket and put them to his eyes, scanning the opposite side of the lake. It was something he’d started doing fairly regularly and Basil watched him, waiting for his response. When it came, his voice was soft and low. “I don’t know, Basil. But we’re going to stop him…whatever it is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay safe. Wash your hands. Wear your mask.


	8. Chapter 8

It was a few days later that Jake was installing the Alpha-proof glass in the sliding door and a few choice windows. He worked diligently, making certain that everything was put together perfectly so that in the event that the man found his way to Basil eventually, he would be at the very least stalled by a few stubborn pieces of glass. Alphas, in all honesty, were far too tenacious for their own good sometimes. It was this day, of course, that the weather had decided to turn a bit, the air still warm but a dense fog settling over the landscape. Jake didn’t like not being able to see up to the road and with such a thickly settled fog, he could barely see from the house to the garage.

Basil was settled on a folding chair nearby, his heat scent weighted by the moisture in the air. The warmth of the morning and the wetness that hung around them made it much more potent to Jake’s nose and he wondered how long he could fight this uncomfortable erection. Eventually he was going to have to hide in the bathroom and rub one out like he’d been doing every night—Basil was such a tempting little morsel and sat unassuming in his short shorts with his legs spread and his head leaned back in rest, revealing the milky pale flesh of his throat.

Jake knew his voice was a harsh growl but even as he spoke, Basil didn’t flinch. “You got your legs open and your neck out, Omega. What’re you tryin’ to do to me?”

“Seduce you,” he replied but his voice was humored. “Are you feeling out of control, Alpha?”

“Never.” He swallowed and wondered if that was really true. He’d never felt like this before with any Omega in heat. He was normally so stoic, even in his own mind. But if even the butterflies couldn’t resist Basil’s sweet skin, what kind of hope did he have? It suddenly made a whole lot of sense why an Alpha might go insane for a boy as sweet as this. He blinked and shook his head, finishing up the installation of the last window just as Basil’s stomach gave a distinctive grumble. He looked down at the lounging Omega again to find he hadn’t moved but the hem of his t-shirt was just barely shifted to reveal the bone of his hip and the strip of flesh over his womb just above the cut of his shorts. Jake felt his cock jump. “Lunch, Basil?” His voice sounded tight to his own ears.

“Sure.”

“I found a panini grill under one of the cupboards the other day and I got us some ingredients for a good Tuscan chicken sandwich if you’re up for that.” He had to do anything to keep himself from going crazy over this scent that hung around him like some kind of pall.

“We’re getting practically gourmet here,” Basil smiled.

“Alright. I’ll have it ready in the sunroom for you in a few minutes.” He gathered up his tools, took one last look at the window, and nodded to himself. Putting in windows wasn’t an easy job and there was plenty that had to be done after to make them aesthetically pleasing but that was work for another day. It was enough that they were in and they were strong.

He could hear the ice in Basil’s iced tea tinkling behind him as he walked, knowing then that the boy was following him—the source of the scent that was driving him nuts. He was more than Jake had ever thought possible. He was more than just some stubborn little famous kid who got everything he wanted and whined for it if he hadn’t. He was much different than he’d imagined—he was a complex man, an Omega who had always been cast in the role of wilting flower who found it difficult to rise from that expectation. Jake, often judged by the sight of him, felt the weight of expectations every moment of his life. It hadn’t occurred to him that Basil…in his life of privilege, might feel a similar weight on his own fragile shoulders.

“How are you feeling, Basil?” he asked, unsure what he was really asking.

“Is that a real question?” He followed Jake into the house and sat at the table in the sunroom where he could watch Jake in the kitchen. “I’m hot. I’m horny. I’m hungry. The three H’s. How can a boy survive?”

The Alpha was smiling even as he dug out the little grill and began to prepare lunch. “Well, we can take care of two of those pretty easily.”

“Or all three,” Basil grumbled, leaning his face on his palm and his elbow on the table. His head was faced away from Jake, his gaze focused on the fog that obscured the driveway. He sipped his tea, licking his lips with a little pink tongue that darted out from his mouth.

Jake chose to ignore that one, finishing up lunch and coming to sit across from where Basil sat, curiously peering out toward the drive. He squinted, distrustful of his sight. It was difficult to tell but the human mind was adept at picking out patterns in things. It was why it was so easy to find faces in pictures or in nonsensical patterns. Of course, today he wasn’t certain, but he thought he could recognize the shadow of something along the drive. Something rather human-like. Basil had seen it. His scent underneath his heat was tense and musty but his expression was schooled and deceptively calm though his brows held a tad bit of pensiveness. He was holding back.

Jake cleared his throat a bit. “What are you thinking, Basil?”

“I’ve…I’ve got to…do it.”

“Go ahead.”

The chair slid with a loud skidding sound against the linoleum as the Omega shot up from his seat, his steps quick as he bolted to the backroom and the brand new Alpha-proof lock on the door. The one with the indicator that would show him, definitively, that the door was, in fact, locked. That there was nothing to fear. Jake followed him, watching him as he peered out through the new window that faced the drive, his fingers clicking the lock over and over. At least three times in frantic succession.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Jake cooed, coming behind him, letting himself get close enough to Basil’s body that he could feel his heat radiating off of him. “Hey, you’re alright. I’m here. Better than any lock, Basil. Better than anything you’ve had to protect you before.”

The lock kept clicking and the Omega was shaking now, his hands trembling. His breath was ragged and the salt of his tears was harsh in Jake’s nose. He was past seven now, no doubt, and he was still going.

“You can stop, Basil. I know you can. Count from anywhere. Begin with one and count up. You’re safe. You’re safe with me.”

Basil gave out a panicked sob, his voice high with his terror. “He’s _coming._ He’s _coming for me._ ”

Jake leaned his head, peering with strained eyes toward the human-like shadow that stood in the drive. It was odd, certainly, but likely a trick of the light. The way the sun played through the suspended droplets of water and cast a shadow along the low clouds. It could have been one of the tall arborvitae shrubs having caught the light just so. “Do you want me to go out there?”

“ _No._ ” He near-shouted the word, anxiety lancing through his scent so suddenly it touched Jake’s heart to know it stemmed from attachment.

_One day I’m going to have to let you go, little one. And how will I live with myself then?_

He moved closer, letting himself fully touch, wrapping his arms around Basil’s torso to press him back against him. “You’re safe, Basil. I’m safe too. I’m safe with you.”

His trembling fingers paused for a moment before he turned the lock once more.

“One.”

Basil let out a distinctly audible sob. “Jake…please don’t. I can’t. Not right now.”

“You can. I trust you.”

_Click._

“Two.”

“ _Jake._ ”

_Click._

“Three.”

“Alpha…I can’t stop. I can’t. I can’t. I can’t.”

Jake held him tight, dipping his head down until his lips were against Basil’s neck. “You have plenty left. Five is a decent amount. You’ve still got that. And when you don’t have that anymore, you’ll have me.” As if to emphasize his point, he let his big hand wander over Basil’s chest, his palm over one beaded nipple.

A small mewl escaped from Basil’s throat and Jake noted that he took a second to glance over at the bed of the pull-out sofa just feet from where they stood.

_Click._

“Four.”

Basil gave out a long, shuddering sigh. _Click._

“Five.”

_Click._

“Six.”

He gave out quiet, struggling sounds while he shook, tears escaping him while his anxiety spiked to heights that nearly drowned out the desperate arousal in his heat scent. He was beyond speech now, his body shaking so hard it could almost distract Jake from the fact that he’d soaked through the pad in his underwear and his slick was trickling from his shorts down his thigh, sticking to Jake where their legs touched.

_Click._

“Seven,” Jake told him gently, without a hint of his _Alpha_ tone. Instead, he slowly coaxed Basil backward until his hand couldn’t reach the lock anymore.

“Alpha…I can’t stop. I can’t. I can’t. _I can’t._ ” His voice was loud and pitched high but he didn’t struggle when he was taken and placed face-down on the pull-out mattress, his rump tucked against Jake’s groin hard enough that the Alpha was certain he could feel the rigid length of his manhood through his shorts.

“You can stop,” he provided, his lips against Basil’s ear, nibbling sweetly as the Omega sobbed. “You can stop. You’re alright. Everything’s fine. You’re safe.”

“I have to lock the door. _I have to lock the door._ ”

This wasn’t going to work. He’d sought to distract him but there was no two ways about it—Basil wouldn’t be content with so simple a solution. Jake pulled the boy up and carried him down the hall to the sliding door, unlocking it and pulling it open to step out with him into the wet heat.

“Jake! What are you doing? What are you _doing?!_ ”

“Protecting you.”

“Th-The _door._ ”

“Can’t lock the door if there ain’t one, can yah? C'mon. Don’t kick me.” He adjusted his hold on the Omega until he could carry him easily around the side of the house, heading straight for the drive and the shadow that still stood ominously among the fog. From his belt, he drew out a baton, whipping it to its full size and keeping close to his thigh in a tight fist while he held Basil in his other arm. Halfway to the drive and he’d already determined that he’d been right. The shifting light from the sun above gave the shadow an ethereal quality and it shimmered as he approached, appearing less and less human the closer he came. “Look at it, Basil. It’s not a person. It’s just a shadow. It’s just this arborvitae.” He motioned with the baton, taking him close enough that he could put the stick straight through the shadow itself. “There’s nobody here but you and me and your nosy neighbors who are lookin’ at us right now thinkin’ we’ve got to be out of our fuckin’ minds…if they could see us, anyway.”

Basil was sniffing and shaking still, the toes of his tennis shoes just barely brushing the gravel as his head leaned back against Jake. “Alpha…please put me down.”

He did, letting the Omega stand on shaky legs, watching him take a few steps back.

“I’m sorry, Basil. But if I didn’t do this, this shadow would have disappeared and you would never have slept again.”

“I know…I know…” He didn’t sound convinced, his arms coming around to hug himself while his eyes darted around the mist.

“Do you want to hit me?”

“No…no…I…”

“I’ll give you a good shot. Right in the arm.”

Basil’s eyes locked on the baton. “Aren’t those…illegal?”

He collapsed it, attaching it again to his belt. “Yep. There’s a reason for that too. Your stalker’s going to discover that if he makes an appearance. I can’t beat the shrubs into submission though. Nor can I beat a shadow.” The query heartened him, though. Basil was successfully coming back to himself, albeit a bit slowly. “Are you ready for your lunch, Basil?”

His tremors were lessening and he looked back toward the house, just barely visible. “I…you…you were going to…”

“I wasn’t going to fuck you, Basil.”

“You said I could have you.”

“I said you would have me…but not like that.”

He swallowed. “What were you going to do?”

“Well, had my initial plan worked to distract you…I…was…” He didn’t want to admit what he was really going to do. He was going to strip those short shorts right off of Basil Zolanowski and bury his face between his cheeks. He was going to finally taste the musk of his slick and lap it straight from the source like a hopeless dog. If he couldn’t stop himself, he was going to take Basil’s little cock into his mouth and suck it until the boy was screaming his name, pulling his hair, and coming in heaving convulsions more potent even than those he had already witnessed.

Basil nodded, putting a hand through his sweat-soaked hair. “Yeah…yeah…that’s…what I thought. I think…I think I want…some lunch. Maybe.”

“I’m sorry, Basil, if I’ve crossed a line. I held you down against your will against a bed with the intent to…”

“But you didn’t. Jake…don’t. Don’t think about it too hard. I’m not.” He nodded again as though convincing himself before he turned around and walked slowly on his shaking legs back toward the house.

As much as he didn’t want to think about it that hard, he was. This was beginning to look like more and more of a big fucking mistake. He’d weaponized the boy’s lust against him with no intention of true follow-through and a pit of shame began to open up in his guts while he followed behind the Omega, his gaze on the ground before him. If he was willing to go that far—to take him into his mouth and suck him until he came, what was he doing denying him what he really wanted?

_He’s in heat. He’ll regret me._

It rang hollow in his heart. Basil had been in heat for weeks. This was his new normal. If he said he was capable of making his own damned decisions, then who was Jake to tell him he couldn’t? What kind of a man told an Omega what he could or couldn’t think? What he could or couldn’t feel? Two consenting adults was all that was necessary for a successful night, and as Jake found his way to the sunroom behind Basil, he decided then and there that should he be faced with the choice again—he would say yes. Enough damage had been done already; if it was going to be another mistake, how much more could he do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As if the tension couldn't get any thicker.


	9. Chapter 9

_Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. …_

Basil’s fingers were trembling. It had been three days since the fog and in those three days, Jake had been training him to stop at seven. Using his _Alpha_ tone, he’d stopped Basil at seven clicks every time and now it was becoming difficult to even make that seventh rotation. His fingers curled into a fist and then came out again, twitching as his thoughts compelled him. The door was _already locked_. But he had to do it again. If he did it seven times, then it would be locked for good and he could leave it alone but if he locked it seven times and then made a move for it again, the _Alpha_ voice came and that was a good enough of a deterrent that he didn’t even _want_ to get to seven.

_Click._

He shoved his hand against his stomach, twisting his fingers into the material of his shirt before he cast a wide-eyed stare toward where Jake sat on the pull-out mattress, sitting up against the back of the sofa with his laptop on his lap. He appeared so casual with his tea nearby and his reading glasses on that it seemed ridiculously unfair that Basil was such a wreck over so simple a thing that Jake could do. Damn _Alpha_ voice—it wasn’t fair, goddamnit.

Jake looked up at him calmly and then looked out the window where the yellow outside light shined on the glittering raindrops which fell around the little cottage. “Good job, Basil.” The sunlight had been scarce that day, as it was a dreary, rainy day, but it was fading more now, leaving a wet and bleak night ahead. It pattered softly on the roof and it seemed that it was only in Basil’s own mind everything was jumbled and strange.

He wasn’t wearing shoes and the anticipation for Jake’s arresting voice had his feet completely numb and tingling. His toes curled where he stood on the old carpet and he nodded feverishly. Evening was always when his heat hit him the hardest. Knowing that he would have to make the long walk down the hall toward his own bedroom was the most difficult bit of his knowledge to hold. It was warm in here. It was comfy and inviting. He didn’t want to get into a cold bed.

His eyes flicked to the lock on the door. Red. Red for locked. It was locked. He’d done it seven times.

_Surely seven more couldn’t hurt._

“Jake,” he implored softly.

“What is it, Basil?” He was gently typing but he glanced up while doing so, ensnaring the Omega in an inquiring stare.

Before he could reply, his heart was in his throat as five loud booms sounded from somewhere outside the other side of the house. He leaped from his spot, fear spurring him to jump upon the pull-out bed and crash bodily to Jake’s side among the Alpha-scented pillows and the heavy comforter that was bundled there. “ _W-What the fuck?!_ ” he shrieked, wriggling his body to hide his head at the very least, as if that might save him from whatever had just shaken the entire fucking house.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” the Alpha tried, an iron arm coming around him and the comforter. “Hey. You’re alright.”

“ _What the fu-fu-fuck?!_ ”

“You know, I thought coming out here would make you _less_ skittish but it’s almost like it’s had the opposite effect. It’s just _fireworks_ , Omega.” He dragged Basil until his head and shoulders were in his lap while he set his computer aside.

“Fireworks…”

“Yeah. They’re setting them off over the lake.” Another boom sounded and then another. Then a sound that crackled through the air and reminded Basil of the sparkling shimmers of firework trails. A sharp warbling whistler screeched as well and even despite knowing what he was listening to, Basil couldn’t stop his shaking.

Tears began to pool in his eyes. “I’m…I’m never going to be the same.”

“Don’t say that.”

He trembled mightily, feeling cold despite his heat and the comforter that was twisted around him. “One…one morning…I was going for coffee and to the park. I really like the park. The butterflies…there were some there. Not many…”

Jake’s fingers gently combed into his hair, the Alpha’s warm, dark eyes calming him from above.

“I went into the cafe and the girl said…‘Oh you must be Basil, this is for you.’ like it happens every day, you know?” He swallowed, a tear escaping the corner of his eye and dripping into the shell of his ear. “And it was my coffee I like. Just how I liked it. And I told her I didn’t want it. She looked at me…like I was nuts or something. Like it had been some grand romantic gesture and I was a fuckwad for having turned it down. Like I thought I was better or something. So I…I left. Nothing was sacred anymore, you know? And when I left…”

The Alpha adjusted him a little while the booms sounded around them, vibrating the house and causing Basil’s heart to pound.

“When I left, there was a little note…stuck to the post office box.” His face pinched and his voice gained a higher pitch to it as the sobs threatened to take it from him entirely. “He had been _watching me._ He asked me why I _didn’t want his gifts._ He wanted to know why I was so fucking stuck up. Why I was such a little rich bitch. Why I couldn’t just be fucking grateful for what I had…”

“Hey,” Jake breathed. “It’s not your fault. None of this is your fault.” It sounded so good that Basil really, really wanted to believe it. But that was too easy of an out. That couldn’t be real.

“Jake, it’s all my fault. It is. You can say that all you want but everything is my fault. Everything. What if…what he hurts you? That’ll be my fault too…” He couldn’t bring himself to think further than this one particular thought. What if something horrible happened to Jake? What if Jake was killed? What if this Alpha was so driven by a jealous rage that Jake was lost forever? Basil was the one he wanted—Basil was the one who should have faced this horror. Alone. He sobbed still at the thought of being forever alone. Left in his solitude for the wolves to devour. It would be best for everyone, he thought madly, if he simply allowed himself to be taken. “ _I…I should…I should just…let him…_ ”

“Oh no,” Jake interrupted suddenly, his voice sharp. “Nope. That’s not a set of thoughts I’m willing to entertain. Do you want to be out in the rain, Basil?”

“Wh-whuh?”

“Do you wanna be out in the rain? Do you wanna get dropped right down into that lake? I’ll cool you off, Omega, I swear to god.”

“ _What?_ ” He clung to the Alpha as Jake stood suddenly, carrying Basil in his arms. “ _N-No!_ ”

“Then don’t you say that shit to me. You know what you’re gonna do? You’re gonna get your pajamas on, you’re gonna drink some of the tea I make you, and you’re gonna get yourself calmed down. You think you can do that?” As he spoke, his voice became calmer and softer, naturally lulling Basil toward peace. “I’m gonna be with you, ok? We’re gonna be together.”

“ _Together…_ ” he parroted, feeling nearly light-headed.

“Yep, together. You don’t have to go anywhere you don’t wanna go. I’m gonna spoil you tonight because tomorrow you have to start doing something difficult.”

He leaned his head against Jake’s chest. “Tomorrow?”

“Yep. You’re gonna learn how to do something really important tomorrow and it’s gonna take a couple days. But you’re gonna learn how to completely ignore an Alpha’s voice.” His arms squeezed a little before he placed Basil down on his own trembling legs. “Go and get your pajamas on. I’m gonna make you some tea.”

“Ignore…you…you’re serious about that?”

“Of course I am. Could save your life.” He was so warm. His whole body and soul seemed to radiate warmth despite the fact that Basil must have been several degrees hotter than he was. It was a feeling more than anything else, an emotion that must have stemmed from within Basil’s own form. He walked, feeling as though his knees were made out of jelly. His room felt cold and alien and so he donned his pajamas quickly, ignoring the booming of the fireworks outside as his mind buzzed with everything Jake had just told him. 

_Spoil you._

When he walked back out he was in his usual t-shirt and sleep shorts. He’d put a fresh slick pad into his briefs and he could feel it already beginning to soak up a fresh gush released from the reintroduction of Jake’s scent to his senses. God this Alpha was beautiful. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever met an Alpha so attractive in his life. Dark skin, deep brown eyes, handsome dreadlocks long over his shoulders and framing his perfectly sculpted face. How was this man real? How was he making tea in this kitchen?

“Jake?”

“The tea will be ready in a moment if you wanna take a seat at the table.”

He did, putting his arms on the cool surface and staring through the doorway at the Alpha who seemed almost too big to be in the kitchen. “He left a note for me once…”

Jake glanced over toward him. “Do you wanna talk about this right now?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

“He left a note for me in the subway. As you know, I’m a…I’m a creature of habit. I stood by the same pillar in the subway when I went to Seth’s apartment every week. You know…you have these habits and you don’t even notice them? I was trying to change where I went, what I did…but it didn’t matter. If he’s one step away from you, ahead or behind, he’ll always know where you are.” He swallowed, putting a hand through his sweat-damp hair. “The note told me what he was going to do to me. It was…the first note that really detailed what he would do. I knew he was somewhere in that subway…watching me react to this note. He was going to…” He blinked away his tears, willing his emotions to stay hidden and demanding that a cold determination take their place. “He was going to break all of my fingers. He was going to tie my ankles to the footboard of his bed so my legs were spread apart…and then he was going to—”

“Basil,” Jake interrupted gently as he approached with the tea. He set it down in front of him in a mug with a cartoon pug on it, the teabag bobbing. “Nobody’s going to do anything to you.”

“If he smelled me…in heat…”

“He won’t.”

“He could stop me…with a word…”

“He won’t.” Jake sat across from him, blowing on his own freshly brewed tea to dispel the steam rising from it. “We’re gonna get you past this heat. We’re gonna make it so you can walk right through _Alpha_ voice. We’re going to make you as Alpha-proof as we’ve made this house.”

“What if I don’t want to be Alpha-proof.”

He chuckled and stared down at the table for a second, his smile bashful and his scent embarrassed. “I didn’t say you were gonna be Jake Thompson proof. Just Alpha proof.”

Basil smiled through the emotions still roiling within him. “Well…that’s good. I’d hate to be Jake Thompson proof. You know…every superhero has a weakness and…if I get to pick mine, I’d like it to be you.” He put out his hand, palm up on the table, hoping that Jake might touch him. He wasn’t disappointed. He could have sobbed for the tingle the Alpha’s fingers made as they brushed against his own and for one mad second, he reached down and cupped his erection through the fabric of his shorts.

“Drink your tea, Omega. Then you can tell me what you want.”

“What I…want?” He blew on his tea, taking sips of it and letting it wash down his throat. He was halfway through the mug when he set it down again. “What I want…” He was still thinking about his fucking erection. He was still thinking about how insane everything was. He was hiding from a goddamn stalker in the middle of nowhere in the family’s lake house and he wanted to get dicked down by the hot bodyguard. God, if Seth knew… He gulped down the rest of his tea so fast he dribbled some down his chin and onto his t-shirt. The mug came down with a thunk on the table and he wiped at his chin with the back of his hand. “I wanna put your cock in my mouth.”

Jake winced. “No kisses first?”

“I’m fuckin’ desperate, Alpha. I don’t have time for kisses.”

“There’s always time for kisses,” he replied in a low, sage voice. “In fact, there’s time for a lot of stuff. How’s about you and I go back to that back room and we close those curtains and I can show you all we’ve got time for?”

“I have been in heat for _weeks_ , Alpha…”

“Which just goes to show you that we’ve got _plenty_ of time.”

He swallowed hard, frowning at nothing while his fingers curled and pressed against Jake’s which pressed back. “I don’t wanna wait.”

“That is just too damn bad, Omega. We’re gonna go slow. And why we’re gonna go slow is because I’m not one-hundred percent yet. So until I’m one-hundred percent, we’re gonna go as slow as I need to.”

Basil stared at him, examining his serious expression. This was obviously a ploy. The Alpha was already all-in, but he was giving Basil an out. Any hesitancy could be conveyed as a question to the Alpha on his readiness and the jig would be up—he would miss out on this opportunity. Well he made up his mind right here and now…he would not be conveying any hesitancy. He stood suddenly, trembling. His hard-on was forming a distinct tent in his fabric shorts and he wasn’t at all ashamed of letting it show though he did flush a bit as he noticed Jake’s eyes flick down to it and then back up at his face.

“You look pretty determined, Omega.”

“I hope so. Because I think I am.”

“You think you are?”

“I know I am.”

Jake nodded slowly, taking one last sip of his tea before he stood up. “Alright. That’s it then. Condoms are in my bag. Outside pocket. Lead the way, Basil.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> POUNCE.


	10. Chapter 10

There was a whole box of condoms in Basil’s hand when Jake came up behind him and saw him marveling at it as if he couldn’t believe that Jake might have the gall to bring them here. It was, of course, just in case. If one couldn’t be prepared for every single outcome of this kind of job, then one was not a very good close protection agent. Not only that, but a man had to be an optimist sometimes and this time at the very least, it paid off. At least, it paid off for the moment. Jake was going to be absolutely gutted when the time came that he would have to leave Basil and move on to the next job.

“Remember what I told you,” Jake murmured, drawing Basil’s gaze over his shoulder. “We’re going slow.”

The Omega nodded, his brows pinched in the middle. His damp, shocking red hair was ruffled attractively and his t-shirt was sticking to his skin. When Basil approached him, he was still holding the whole box with his pinky and thumb on the hand with his broken fingers, his other coming to Jake’s chest over his heart. He whispered then, staring at the place he touched. “ _I can feel you._ ”

The Alpha reached for the box, popping it open and withdrawing the curl of attached condoms, ripping one off the strand and tossing the rest to the floor. He moved to place the single one on the table by the pull-out sofa so he would know where it was when he needed it. With Basil’s hands both free, he found the boy seeking to touch him despite the splints on his fingers, the metal cold even through his t-shirt.

“Omega…”

“I’m sorry…I feel like I need to… _consume_ you…”

Jake drew his fingers over Basil’s face, watching him dissolve then, his eyes closing and his mouth opening in a muddled and muted form of rapture. The draw of Jake’s dark skin against the stark paleness of Basil’s own flesh was electric. If the Alpha hadn’t already been hard as a stone between his legs, the rush of lust could have been enough to make him faint for lack of blood to his brain. From the moment he’d seen this boy, from the moment he’d heard the first words he’d spoken in that breathy voice Omegas took when in heat—a product of exhaustion mostly—he’d been beside himself with his want. Peering down into the haze of his eyes, seeing the naked lust that haunted him was torture—telling him ‘no’ every time he asked for Jake’s body had been one of the most difficult things the Alpha had ever done. It had taken every ounce of his strength and now his strength had failed.

Heat would do that. It would weaken even the strongest of steel, cause it to crumble and collapse in on itself. This boy was more than heat. He was an inferno. Exposure to his scent, to the sight of his pink lips and tired gaze, to the dampness of his sweat—he could make any man insane. He could drive any man to the brink of madness and dump him over into the abyss.

“You…” Jake began, sliding the backs of his fingers against the side of Basil’s face again, his resolve to go slowly buckling against this relentless lust. “You’re everything I’d ever wanted in my life, Basil…”

“Then take me.”

He swallowed thickly, allowing his hand to gently wrap around Basil’s small throat while the boy touched his chest with both hands. “It’s not your fault that he wants you…but god do I see why he does.”

Basil lifted his hand, his fingers catching the edge of Jake’s t-shirt collar, dragging it down in a wordless plea. He mewled when it was answered with Jake’s mouth to his, the sound catching in the Alpha’s throat. Jake kissed him softly at the first, gently easing his tongue into his mouth, exploring his sweetness. There was still a soft sickness beneath the oppressive syrup of his heat but now, when his mouth was open and pliant, Jake could hardly sense it. There was but one thing that mattered—Basil’s body and specifically, in this moment, this kiss that sent licks of flame into every square inch of Jake’s form.

One kiss easily melted into another and then another, the Omega’s hand gripping his t-shirt hard, keeping him held down so that he could be searched and pleaded and thanked in just kisses that thrilled him and placed a static electricity in the air he couldn’t deny. Had Basil kissed another man like this? Surely he had—but Jake couldn’t imagine that any other man could appreciate a boy like this with a touch like fire and brimstone. It was as though the Earth itself had opened and released a molten nymph. There was no Alpha that could withstand this…and Jake was a fool to try.

Without even knowing that he’d done it, the hand that was not upon the boy’s throat was beneath his t-shirt, peeling the damp fabric away from his sticky flesh, easing it up until one large thumb could brush against the tight pucker of a hard nipple.

“ _Uhhnn…_ ” It was caught within Jake’s mouth, swallowed whole and sustenance he thought he could subsist upon for the rest of his days. Pure pleasure made sound. He flicked and teased, pinching lightly while the boy undulated, sticking his body against him as much as he could. Jake swallowed a few more fevered cries before he broke away slowly, pushing the boy by his throat until he could stare down into those hazy blue eyes.

For those few seconds, neither of them seemed capable of speech. Basil pleaded with him, seeking to remove his shirt, struggling against him until he finally let the boy go, assisting him in removing the offending item. It was summarily discarded and Basil’s hot hand pressed against Jake’s well-muscled chest, pale and wet against the darkness of the Alpha's body.

Basil found his voice. “ _You…you’re perfect._ ”

The Alpha’s tone was gritty and difficult to produce. “Says perfection himself…”

“I could never be so beautiful as you are…look at you…strong…handsome… _Alpha_.”

He let Basil go only to strip him of his own shirt, tossing the sweat-heavy item to the carpet so he could grip the boy’s hips and steady him on his feet, staring down at puffy pink nipples swelled with arousal and hardened at the tips. Heat scent radiated out of him in waves of allure and Jake had to control his breath, hissing through his teeth as it hit him hard. He’d never smelled an Omega so wanting in his life. He had been intending to tell Basil just how perfect he was but with the inundation just now, he couldn’t form words. Instead, he pushed the Omega back until his legs hit the side of the mattress and he was forced to sit. Jake hit his knees on the floor in front of him and worked to ease the boy’s shorts out from under him, sliding them and his briefs down and off, the slick pad in his underwear so full and weighty that just the smell of that alone had Jake near leaking. At the sight of Basil’s hard little cock, he felt his mouth fill with saliva.

“ _Oh my god,_ ” he uttered, unsure if he even spoke it aloud. It was dusty pink and slick-soaked, hard and filled with blood that forced it to stick straight up, a small pearl of pre-cum beaded already upon the tip. He couldn’t think anymore. He was a creature of instinct now and he followed his buzzing mind’s first command. 

_Taste it._

The warmth between Basil’s thighs was incredible and placing his face there was like finding a sun-warmed pool and jumping without hesitation into it. The scent of him was encumbering and the taste of him—god the _taste_ of him. Musky and sweet and everything he’d ever dreamed of a boy like this. Jake had taken Omegas before but none _like this_.

_Sunlight hot and heavy over closed eyelids in midsummer. The warbling of the world as the heat beat down over pavement in the city. A birdsong—chii chii chii—over the heavy greens of Central Park, swooping out into the glimmering, glinting towers that rose from the Earth as spires of a great civilization. Heat. Heat. Heat. Relentless, burning, inescapable sun that raged as an inferno over a blacktop desert._

“ _Aaaaaaahhhhnnnhhh!_ ” Basil cried, his head thrown back, his thighs open wide, his cock buried in Jake’s mouth. One of his hands had come to the back of the Alpha’s head, his fingers gripping his locs there in desperation. Jake felt those fingers tighten and sucked and bobbed and worshiped with everything he had, so eager to taste the drip of the boy’s cum that he was now convinced that he was wrong earlier—a man could not subsist upon the sounds of pleasure alone. He must have a taste of this essence…this evidence of a man’s joy.

The little violinist had been without for so long that it seemed even the barest of touches might be able to send him into a frenzy. His thighs shook madly, his body making soft trembling twitches as he breathed in fits between cries, his arms eventually unable to keep him up. He collapsed back upon the bed, writhing and shaking, his hips undulating as if in hints of thrusts up into the warm cavern of Jake’s mouth. It didn’t take long, as Jake knew it wouldn’t. He came with a scream that echoed through the house, near shaking the windows in their panes with its intensity. His body convulsed, the spasms enough to eject spurts of slick from his backside, the warmth of body-heated fluid splashing over Jake’s chest and the edge of the mattress.

He swallowed what he’d found in his mouth at the end of it all and slowly, gently, kissed at Basil’s soft tummy where his member lay, still rigid, shaking with his uneven, panting breaths and the leftover trembles of orgasm. Jake smiled a very male smile; he could feel his own pride in himself and he couldn’t tamp it down. He was going to give this Omega so much pleasure that he would never forget the way Jake Thompson had made him feel—utterly exhausted in euphoria. He ran his large palms up and down the sides of Basil’s thighs, drawing his legs to close a little bit before he massaged at the Omega’s hips and then drew himself further over him to loom, his palms sliding up until he could frame the boy’s pectorals, admiring the puffiness of his pink nipples. Basil, for his part, was laying limply upon his back, his arms loose to his sides and his face lax in the afterglow of one peak. His hair was wet, his flesh shined, and to Jake, he appeared as an angel in rumpled bedsheets.

“Did you know…” Jake began, his voice low and sensual and very purposeful in tone, “…that you are the most beautiful boy I’ve ever seen? That when I first saw you, even as you were then, I wanted to sink inside you? Did you know you would enchant me? Did you know from the start that you could wear me down and seduce me?”

An incredulous smile spread across Basil’s face but his eyes were closed and remained that way. His voice was tired. “I have very little faith in personal power, Alpha. It was not conscious.”

“Why do you want me, Basil?”

“Why? Is it not obvious?”

For some reason Jake felt a soft ache in his heart. It fled with Basil’s next words.

“You’re _kind_ , Alpha. Despite everything…despite all that’s happened and all I am still compelled to do…I feel safe with you.”

Jake peered down at him until Basil’s blue eyes opened just a smidgen, meeting the Alpha’s in a spark of understanding. “Can I…take you, Basil?”

“What have you been waiting for?”

“This…I think.” He could feel an elation welling up within him, his chest swelling with something more than just his Alpha pride. It was frightening but it was warm and it was golden and he couldn’t help it. The way Basil looked at him—he was simultaneously built and destroyed by it.

_I think I’m falling in love…_

It would be a huge mistake…but Jake had made worse mistakes. Basil had teased him before about falling in love with him but now it seemed like it was an inevitable byproduct of spending any time with him at all. It wasn’t just pheromones affecting him—it was Basil himself. Every movement he made, every worry he had was so simply taken into Jake’s soul. It was soaked into his body like sunlight and perhaps it would burn him.

He shucked his shorts and his boxers and slid his hands down to Basil’s thighs, lifting them and parting them so he could slot himself between them. He pushed the boy back toward the middle of the bed and placed his knee on the mattress, letting his length press down over Basil’s groin.

“ _Jake…_ ” the Omega breathed.

“I want to knot you, Basil…”

“I want that…I want that too…” He swallowed, his eyes open fully, piercing him with a hard stare.

He fumbled for the condom on the table by the arm of the sofa and tore it open. His hands were shaking when he rolled it on, his knot swelled and heavy at the base of him. All this time basking in the glow of an ethereal redhead and now he could have him. _Have._ He could sink into him like he’d wanted to when he’d first encountered this _scent_. The scent that even butterflies couldn’t deny. That nature kissed with its most delicate of blessings. He felt unworthy.

“ _Alpha…please don’t make me wait._ ”

To do so was cruel and so Jake pressed his thumb down over himself to nudge at Basil’s slicked entrance, his mind exalting at the sigh that escaped him. It was relief and perhaps it was premature but he trusted Jake to give him what he needed—and this was the call. Jake pushed, the breach of him marked by a toss of his head, a hard panting breath and his hand drawing up toward his mouth to worry at his lip. He filled him with a slow but deep impalement until his knot was against the rim of him. He let the Omega feel him then for a few seconds, taking a moment for Basil's sake as much as his own. The tight, wet heat around him was melting into his pulsing flesh, the golden blaze inside him seeming to glow brighter with every beat of his heart.

_I love you, Basil._

He withdrew and then thrust forward, again. Again. Again. He created a pattern, settling his hands to each side of his Omega beneath him, looming and yet worshipful. He could not drink in enough of the sight, his thrusts purposeful and even as if led by some jazz beat detectable to lovers only. He watched Basil’s mouth open as he breathed, his eyes again closed and his expression pensive and _feeling_. His thighs were wide, his body open and his throat exposed in the unique submission of heat. Jake fucked into him with reverie at the first, careful with him in ways that a first-time lover might be careful. But Basil, it seemed, wasn’t having it.

“Jake…” he groaned softly, “…if you don’t fuck me like you mean it, I’m gonna punch you.”

“ _Hah!_ ” The Alpha barked, pausing before he began a pace more fitting to an Omega desperate for him. He slapped back and forth in quick, jerking motions that drove him deep and rocked both Basil and the bed until both were squealing beneath his punishing thrusts. He kept it up until he could feel his sweat drip down the small of his back, trickles falling from his hair to his temples. When he could take it no longer, he gripped the boy hard by the hips, pressing his knot against him, begging to be accepted. He rocked Basil’s body, working forward and back while the little violinist breathed deep and steady in an effort to relax himself enough to take it. It wasn’t as though Jake were small in any way, shape, or form and it would be a matter of teamwork and perseverance to make him fit.

They worked at it for a good few minutes before Basil let out a small giggle from beneath him. “I…I don’t think I’ve ever had anything this big.”

“No?” Jake asked, still pressing. “It’s alright if you can’t.”

“No…no…I want to. I’m so fucking horny, Jake. I want it so bad…”

“I don’t wanna hurt you.”

He giggled again, tears falling from the corners of his eyes. “I don’t care if it hurts. I don’t care. I need it. I need it. I _need_ it.” His giggles transformed into gentle sobs.

“Basil…”

“ _I need it._ ”

Jake tried not to dwell on the tears, renewing his efforts and focusing everything he had onto fitting himself inside the Omega’s tightness. It was another minute or so of pushing until he heard Basil’s pained groan and he felt himself slide fully inside, the full squeeze of his lover’s walls around him driving toward a blinding completion. He filled the condom as he felt his lover convulse around him, writhing beneath and crying out with harsh notes of primal victory. His scream touched Jake’s heart with its depth and desperation, his tears thicker on his face as he gave it out like a lion roars over his pride. The shuddering breath Basil pulled in after was punctuated by a loud sob which was prelude to a tumble of them that fell from his body as rock from a landslide—inevitable and devastating.

He could do nothing but hold him tight in his arms, so small and enveloped that there was nothing Basil could see nor smell but the Alpha over him. His world was smaller and smaller until there was nothing but safety and warmth and _Alpha, Alpha, Alpha._ Jake kissed his hair and pulled the blanket over them, cutting out the dim yellow light around them to give them darkness and surety and nothing but each other.

And he held him. He held him until he was tuckered out by his crying and he fell into a deep, healing sleep. And then Jake held him longer. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh I guess you guys can have this now. As a treat.


	11. Chapter 11

He thought it might have been morning. His sleep was deeper than any sleep he’d gotten in the past few months and when he woke from it he nearly forgot where he was. He was so warm. So safe. It wasn’t an uncomfortable warmth either—it was tight and it was good and it enveloped him in a sheath of protection. He blinked, his hands running over soft flesh and his body gently moving against another. _Alpha._ It had been so long. _So long_. He hadn’t kept track of how long it had been since he had taken an Alpha but now, he thought, it didn’t matter. Besides, he reminded himself as he shook the sleep from his mind. This was no ordinary Alpha.

This was _Jake._

Basil let himself relax again, his thigh tucked between his lover's. The draw of Morpheus was strong still and so he shut his eyes again and melted into Jake’s sweet embrace, pulled deep into slumber. He didn’t know when he woke up again, knowing only that his gentle waking was brought upon by the subtle shifting of the Alpha beside him.

“Mmm,” he let out, his hand over Jake’s side pressing in a delicate attempt to keep the man from moving.

“Basil, I have to get up.” It was low and rumbling and soft and it put tingles all over his body but the message it sent to his brain was one he felt compelled to reject.

“No…don’t leave me.”

“I’ll come right back. I’ve just got to pee.”

“Mmm…” He reluctantly let the man go, rolling into the warm depression that had been left at his departure. It was a cold comfort, he thought, but it would do for now. Sinking down into that soft place where his Alpha had been resting—

Basil’s heart beat hard and a jolt of something stopped him.

_His Alpha._

That was not the thought of a man in Basil Zolanowski’s position. That was not the thought of an independent and headstrong Omega who had toured the world and become one of the best violinists of the age. That was not the thought of a man who was terrified of an Alpha coming to think that he _owned_ him.

He took in a huge breath of Jake’s scent where he lay in the sheets and the pillows. Jake wouldn’t do that. Jake wouldn’t think he owned him. Jake would make him feel safe. Jake would make him feel right. And when this was all said and done, Jake would know the right thing to do. For right now, the right thing for Basil was to be taken…gently. To be knotted and adored. Yes. He liked that. Jake did that very nicely.

The Alpha returned and found him nestled in the spot he’d been laying and gave out a little chuckle of amusement. “You’re happy then, I imagine?”

“I’ll be happier when you’re back under the covers with me.”

“Shove over then, Omega,” he smiled. He was a beautiful Alpha. Standing in the morning light that came between the curtains, he was tall and well-built. The muscles of his abdomen were clearly defined under his perfect dark skin and the hair that began just beneath his belly button tapered down until it flaired at the base of his huge cock. His knot was still visible, swelled a bit by the ambient scent of Basil’s heat and it seemed as though that whole part of Jake’s body was simply waiting for the right moment to ready itself.

Basil, of course, was way ahead of him. It was almost like his little member couldn’t quit being hard. When Jake climbed back under the sheets, the Omega was quick to remind him of this very fact, pressing his groin against the man’s thigh.

“Oh yeah?” the Alpha smiled.

“Yeah,” he murmured back.

Jake reached over and caught the string of condoms on the side table, ripping one off while Basil’s heart began a rapid tattoo in his chest. He rolled it on easily and Basil bit his bottom lip, doing his best to position himself so it might be easier for Jake to breach him. He wanted to be on his back. He wanted to look at the Alpha again—see the pleasure on his face. He’d been too overcome with emotions the previous night. This was a fucking he wanted to fully enjoy for what it was—pure and raw and powerful.

“You sure you’re not too sore?” His fingers were on Basil’s cheek, caressing him with a careful touch.

“I have all day to recover…don’t make me beg.”

“Alright. But after this, you have to eat your entire breakfast. Then we work on the voice.”

He brought up his knees around Jake’s hips, nudging him with his heels to encourage penetration. Without words, he pulled at the man’s face, bringing him down for a sweet kiss that was only just a little sour from shared morning breath. He laughed at himself even as the ache of his rim hit him when the Alpha slid inside, his movement eased by plenty of slick that coated Basil inside and out.

“God,” Basil sighed. “I needed this.”

Jake was smiling. “I’m an idiot, by the way.”

“How’s that?” He felt a little breathless, his voice breaking a little when he felt the draw of that big cock in and out of him, a slow and teasing pace.

“I should have given in the first time you asked.”

“No. You were right to question it.”

“I’d like to think that but…from the way you smell right now…”

“Mmm…less talking. More fucking.” He pinched at Jake’s cheek and his heart warmed at the laugh he was given. The warmth around him grew as the push and the pull began a steady pace and his body sang with every thrust. He couldn’t wait. He wanted to feel the contractions of his orgasm squeezing around that huge knot—he wanted to feel possessed…but not owned. Never owned. He wanted to feel safe and protected in Jake’s arms, small but cared-for while draped by this big, strong Alpha. His body greedily took in every inch of that thick girth and he panted, squeezing with his thighs.

“You like that, baby?”

“ _Yeah. Yes…_ ” He moved his body in tandem, hoping to meet Jake’s pushing with his own small movements. “ _I like that…I like that…_ ” He very much liked that. He liked the way his body slapped and rocked. He liked how wet he was. He liked a heat that was sated. He liked feeling full and complete. He liked the promise of a knot and the connection that came from it. He liked _love._

He jerked suddenly, his eyes suddenly huge and staring as he reeled from his sudden thought. _Love?_ He swallowed, his throat dry.

“Basil?” Jake’s thrusts paused. “Are you okay?”

“I…I just…”

“Did I hurt you? You have to tell me if I do. I know you’re sore but you can’t just power through if it hurts, you have to give yourself time to rest.”

“No it…it doesn’t hurt…” _Not physically._

“You don’t look convinced of that.”

“I just…had a really…weird thought. Like ah…a sad thought,” he lied. Then again, he didn’t know if he was lying. Jake had a whole life that was not Basil. He had a whole life that was somewhere else and filled with other people. Roommates, friends, family. Jake had a whole, huge part of him that wasn’t meant for Basil to know. He was paid to be here. He was paid to be around him. He probably didn’t even want to be doing this—he was just guilted into it. “And um…”

“Okay, I had enough tears last night. This is not a fuck for tears. This is a fuck for a fuck’s sake,” the Alpha smiled. “You’re not allowed to have sad thoughts. You’re allowed to think about how good you feel. You’re allowed to think about how I’m gonna fill you right up. You’re allowed to think about how powerful it’s gonna be when you come for me…” He nuzzled Basil’s jaw below his ear and whispered, his voice sending jolts of sensual sparks down to Basil’s groin. “You’re allowed to feel beautiful. Wanted. Worshiped…”

“ _Jake…_ ”

“I’m gonna fuck the sad right out of you.”

He couldn’t help but smile then and let himself fall deeply into the mire of Jake’s pounding rhythm. The pressure inside him built with every messy, wet thrust and each squelching sound emitted from the space between them. It was stacked layer upon layer until he could feel it overflowing, like sand within a goblet, pouring over the sides.

“ _I’m going to come, Jake. Alpha!_ ”

Obligingly, the Alpha pressed his knot against Basil’s sore rim and pushed. Hard. This time was easier. It took him a little while but the knot slid in much easier this time, the stretch and the pain worth every moment as Basil’s body contracted around it and locked it in, the stretch of it pressing inside him until he was given no choice but to come. He let out another scream, his little form writhing in Jake’s embrace as his climax overtook him.

He was panting, his arms above his head and his chest heaving when he felt Jake’s mouth on his nipples.

“Hey…” he laughed.

“Hey what.”

“That tickles…and…and feels…good.”

There was a chuckle from the Alpha’s chest. “I know. I don’t get enough time to play with you. Every part of you is sexy…did you know that?”

“Stop…”

“Make me.”

He didn’t want to. He wanted Jake to tell him all the way he found Basil attractive. It was different now. When it wasn’t scrawled on post-it notes hidden around the city. When it wasn’t in weird little love letters shoved in places for him to find. When those compliments were murmured by a very much wanted Alpha who was firmly knotted within him—they were nice. They were exactly what he liked.

Jake kissed him again and then trailed smaller kisses down his chin and his throat. “Mmm, you smell so good.”

“So do you.”

“What do I smell like to you, Omega?”

Basil felt his face heat. “You smell like summer. The prick of raspberries bushes. The roll of dark clouds giving way to bits of sun. The cry of crows in the morning just outside your window and the sparkling twitter of songbirds as they fight over seed. Rustling leaves. Crunching gravel…”

“Crunching gravel…” Jake repeated, his voice thoughtful.

“Yeah…you know…like…”

“Like…” Jake frowned, releasing Basil from his hold and moving to test the bond of the knot. It pulled and tugged but did not let up. He whispered his next word. “ _Shit._ ”

“What? What is it?” He felt another lance of emotion but this time it wasn’t shame. It was a deep and primal horror.

“Calm down, Basil. You’re alright.”

“B-But I…I have to…” _Lock the door._

“No, no,” he cooed softly. “You don’t have to do anything. It’s me who’s gotta keep you calm. Look at me. Nothing’s wrong.” His face was calm. So was his scent. He was smiling gently and massaging the space between Basil’s entrance and his balls. His thumb was pressing insistently against the internal ring of muscle that had him trapped, gently moving back and forth to relieve the tension there. “You’re absolutely fine, you hear me?”

_Lock the door. Is the door locked? Did you lock it last night? Is it locked now? The little lock window is red but that doesn’t mean it’s not broken. It could have broken. The door has to be locked. Did he hear something? Gravel outside? The gravel moving? Is there someone outside? I have to lock the door!_

“J-Jake, I have to…I have to…”

“Not while I’m inside you. You don’t have to do jack shit right now. You’re alright. You’re safe right here with me. Nothing can happen to you as long as I’m with you.”

He believed that. Jake was a powerhouse. He was hot and he was strong and he could probably beat the shit out of any man who dared bust through any door—but that door was Alpha proof…if it was locked. He swallowed convulsively, unsure what to do with his hands and then eventually using them to cover his face. He felt his muscles involuntarily relax from Jake’s soft pressing massages and felt the man’s knot pull out of him, leaving him empty and gaping.

It wasn’t a moment too soon, he found, as there sounded a harsh rapping upon the outside of the door.

Basil grabbed the covers to the bed and whipped them over his whole body, concealing himself until he was nothing but a bundle of blankets on the pullout mattress, his heart beating so hard in his chest that he could feel it thrumming throughout his entire body.

Jake busily rustled around in the room, snapping the condom off with a choice cuss before he pulled on some clothes and there was quiet as he likely peered out the small window in the door.

“For fuck’s sake,” the Alpha muttered and Basil heard the heavy lock click open.

 _So it was locked…_ he thought sardonically.

There was a small pause after he heard the door swing open and then, as if his heart couldn’t take any more of the suspense, he heard Seth’s voice ring out.

“What the fuck have you done with my brother?”

Jake replied in a very put-upon tone. “He’s safe.”

“He’s safe? Are these his clothes? Have you been…” There was an affronted gasp. “You told me you were even-keeled…”

“This was a mutual understanding, Mr. Zolanowski.”

“The fuck it was, where is he?”

Basil pinched the bridge of his nose before he sighed and wriggled to poke his head out from under the sheets. “Um…Seth?”

“Basil thank god, are you alright?” His eyes were large and pleading as though he couldn’t imagine what he might do if Basil said he wasn’t.

“Seth, might you do me a big favor? Like…very big. Like the biggest favor you might ever possibly do me in your life?”

The Beta stepped into the room, his nose wrinkling at the scent of sex and Alpha rut. “You know I would do anything for you, Basil. I swear to god, I’ll make sure he never touches you again, I—”

“Seth.”

“What?”

“Favor.”

“Anything.”

“Fuck off.”

His expression was blank for a few moments, staring down at the Omega with clear befuddlement. “Fuh…”

“I said ‘fuck off,’ Seth. I know you love me and you want me to be happy and this is why I need you to fuck off when I ask you to.” He stared at his brother, awkwardly feeling terribly naked despite all the blankets piled on top of him.

“But…”

“No arguments. I want this. I have this. I won’t let you take it. Now do me that favor and get in your car, drive back to New York, and tell mother and father that I’m having a wonderful holiday and Jake has been supremely helpful and professional.”

Seth was still staring at him. “You sound…better.”

“I feel better. Now get the fuck out.”

He cast another uncertain glance to Jake before he looked back to Basil and nodded slightly, exiting the cottage without another word. The sound of a quiet engine starting floated to Basil’s ears from the open door while Jake peered out into the sunlight. The gravel crunched under retreating tires and soon there was nothing but the birdsong.

Basil let his head hit the pillows. “Jesus Christ. Can nothing be simple?”

Jake closed the door and the lock clicked heavily into place before he approached the mattress, his presence huge and looming. “I guess not.”

“Mmm…well…that took care of my lingering libido. Now I think I’m hungry.”

“Good. When you’re finished we’ll go down to the lake and get started on your lessons.”

He groaned. “I’m not looking forward to that.”

“Maybe you’ll look forward to your reward.”

“I’m going to be too sore.”

“For me to suck your little cock?” Jake winked and Basil felt his face heat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seth in car back home: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA


	12. Chapter 12

The Omega hadn’t done so well with the voice exercises that afternoon and was reluctant to continue them the next morning. Jake, being a rather patient sort of Alpha, had pushed him as far as he could go before he let him have a decent break and had generously put his mouth to him. The violinist was sweeter now than he was before, the bitterness of sickness beginning to fade from the underneath of his heat scent. When he was outside, it was almost as though he could not escape the kaleidoscope of butterflies that swarmed about him and Jake felt as if he were merely one of them—desperate to sip the sweet sweat from his skin. When night came, Jake placed his nose below the boy’s ear and breathed him, fueling his potent lust so that he might draw Basil’s clothes from his body and worship him _everywhere_ with all he could offer. Despite Basil’s insistence that he was good for another go, he held off their next coupling until the morning.

The sunlight trickled in and the Omega was awake before he was, gently shaking him by his shoulders until he could gain command over his mind. His immediate perception was in that Basil’s scent was leveling off and had faded from the day previous.

“Mmm…” Jake murmured, rubbing at his eyes, his knot pulsing at the base of his rigid manhood. Basil was whispering something into his ear, the brush of his lips against his earlobe sending prickles of lusty anticipation down toward his groin. He couldn’t hear the words—he was much too distracted by those prickles. Still, he groaned again, blinking and finding his lover’s face very close—close enough that when he found his lips taken by a sweet kiss, he was not surprised in the least. “Mmm…” he moaned into the boy’s mouth, reaching up to him and taking his shoulders in his large hands, rolling Basil over him until he was forced to straddle Jake’s middle.

Their kiss was lazy and indulgent, the heat from its lethargic arousal suffusing through his whole body and causing an even more persistent ache from between his legs. He explored Basil’s mouth and let the Omega do the same while hands roving over each other, touching with familiarity and a comfortable safety. He wanted more than to just be Basil’s protector. He wanted more than to just be whatever this was. He wanted to stay with him. He wanted to have him forever.

 _It’s just the rut talking…right?_ He wasn’t sure. He’d thought of the word “love” before and it had come so naturally. It did so again. He was falling and he was falling hard. How could he live with himself when it came time for Basil to choose to move beyond him? What would happen to them when Basil didn’t need him anymore? Would that time come? Would the family stop paying him once they found out what Seth was about to tell them? They probably already knew.

He reached up for Basil’s face and cupped his cheek, breaking the kiss as the boy leaned into his palm. “Basil…”

“I’d like you to knot me, Jake…if…if that’s alright.”

“Of course,” he murmured. It was alright. The mystique was gone from around it, after all, and there was no more harm in it—unless one counted the fact that Jake was going to be forced further and further into an impossible love.

_Who said it was impossible? You?_

They found a condom and Jake rolled it on before he slid his touch over Basil’s hips as he moved over Jake’s body, his small fingers maneuvering the Alpha’s hard cock into the right place before he breached himself, sighing with relief and pleasure mixed. He very gently held the man’s hips, allowing for the Omega to make all the movement decisions before he was given a discreet nod to show that he was ready for a steady rocking.

Jake began the pace from below, slow and steady and ever-so-loving. He couldn’t imagine any other form of making love. Not this morning. It was all emotion now, he thought. He could feel it in his heart. Alphas were supposedly stoic and didn’t feel the way Omegas did but that was utter bullshit when it came to reality, Jake thought. He felt things just as potently. He felt love like a bullet through the heart. Somehow he hoped that through this slow and gentle pace, Basil could feel even just the smallest amount of what Jake was feeling—that somehow he could transfer his own emotions through the rolling motion of his hips and the way his cock pushed against the inside of his lover.

“Basil…” he sighed. _I love you._ He couldn’t say that. He couldn’t admit it out loud. What if he scared him? What if there wasn’t that much to it? What if he could stay closer for longer without saying those words?

The violinist was panting, his hips pushing downward faster until he could draw Jake into the more frantic pace, their bodies slapping as Basil’s fingers found Jake’s hand and he laced them together on Jake’s shoulder, placing his slight weight down upon it. That weight seemed as though it could have been the Alpha’s entire world. As though through one mindless motion, Basil had symbolized everything he wished he could be. Protector, lover, holder, giver, supporter— _mate._

“Knot me,” Basil panted. “Please Jake. Knot me!”

“Hard for it this morning, huh?” he teased, his hands tighter upon Basil’s waist as he urged the boy down over him a little more to work himself in.

Basil’s face was pink. “I’m just…I just…”

“No need to explain,” he mused softly. “I like it. I like the way you look astride me…gettin’ your belly filled up.” Jake suddenly had the thought that it’d be quite the turn-on to know that he was pumping the Omega up with his seed—breeding him. God he liked that. He pulled at Basil’s hips again, working against him until he felt Basil’s body relax and accept him, his muscles immediately tightening and locking the both of them together.

“ _Uhnnn I’m coming. I’m coming…_ ” Basil groaned, near to a whisper, his body tensing and relaxing in distinct contractions that jetted his spend out over Jake’s bare chest and belly.

Jake’s hands over his hips bounced in through those rhythmic contractions, shimmying the boy up and down around his knot until the sensation was too much and Jake, too, found his climax with a shuddering sigh. Breathing deep, he let the pleasure wash through every inch of him and he felt, with stinging sensitivity, the continued press of the Omega’s body around him.

Basil breathed, his voice coming back to him, strained but sensible. “Well…that was much more normal…than before, I mean.”

“You like it better this way? I kind of liked your animal side.”

“No Alpha likes tears though.”

Jake had to give him this one. “You’re right. No Alpha likes tears. At least, no _decent_ Alpha likes tears.”

Basil sat over him, dipping the tip of his finger into the semen that had spurted over his chest. “I’ve made a mess of you.”

“I like it.”

His cheeks grew pinker, dusty and attractive over his pale skin. His blue eyes were vibrant, lacking the haze of his condition.

“I think you’re losing your heat.”

“Am I?”

“You can’t feel it?”

Basil gave him a tiny shrug. “It’s been so constant for me…” He put his hand up to his forehead and wiped at the small bit of sweat that had formed along his hairline. “I woke up hungry for you…”

“I think it’s going to be gone by tonight.”

“Hah. How funny. I finally get to fuck you and lose all my desperation. How am I going to attract you now without my scent?” He laughed but the sound of it was uncertain and nervous.

Jake touched him over his belly, wondering just how far up inside he was. “You don’t need your scent to attract me. I’m already here.”

“So you won’t stop fucking me when I don’t need it anymore? When I just…want it?”

“Will you want it?”

Basil smiled down at him, rubbing his semen over Jake’s chest in small circles. “I think I will. I guess we’ll see tonight, won’t we?”

Jake could handle that. He was hoping Basil was right—that even without a heat, the attraction would remain. It wasn’t unheard of for attractions to wane but Jake felt it was distinctly unlikely in this case. He and the violinist had developed _something._ Jake just didn’t know what the hell that something was when it was looked on from the other direction. From _his_ direction, it was most certainly love.

They took their time in bed, first waiting for the knot to subside and then waiting for the motivation to quit cuddling and get up. It was a warm day and when they stepped outside, Basil was already guzzling down his iced tea, the butterflies forming a small tornado of activity around him as he wandered with his tea in one hand and his towel in the other down toward the lake. Jake watched him as he picked his way down the hill in his flip-flops and his shorts, depositing his towel in a heap on the dock before he set to covering himself in sunscreen.

“Jake?”

“Yeah, I’ll get your back.”

“Don’t forget under my shorts.”

“Okay, sweetheart.” He could see the endearment do its work, Basil’s scent growing flustered and even his chest gaining a little bit of an attractive flush. He slathered on the sunscreen and then leaned over as a cloud came over the sun, his whisper in Basil’s ear serving to fluster him further. “Are you ready?”

“N-No…”

“You’ve gotta be ready or it won’t work.”

Basil licked his lips and took a few steps toward the edge of the dock until he was probably three steps away. The three steps were important. It would give him time to stop himself. An Omega on the edge was one who would more easily obey. He planted his feet. “Okay…alright, I’m ready.”

“Are you?”

He nodded, not looking at Jake, his eyes out toward the other side of the water, at the docks across the way.

“Okay.” Jake let loose his _Alpha_ voice, letting it rumble out of him into the open air. _“Jump in.”_

Basil unstuck almost immediately, taking two steps before he faltered on the third, the hesitation here a result of the progress they had made the previous afternoon. Still, it wasn’t enough. He almost tripped off the end of the dock, splashing into the water below. His rise was marked by a heavy gulping breath in and Jake moved so that he could look down at the wet and disheveled Omega coming up from the depth. “ _Fuck!_ ” he exclaimed from the water.

“You did alright that time. Come on out and we’ll try it again.” He pulled out his binoculars, scanning the edges of the lake to mentally document what folks were out and about. There were a few but not many this day so he settled on looking at the birds instead. There was a family of bluebirds that had taken to the double-decker dock next door, the female having developed a nice little polyamory with two males who came to feed her in turns. When Basil was back in his spot, dripping and with his shorts sticking to his pale thighs, Jake put down his binoculars. “Ready again?”

“R-Ready.”

 _“Jump in.”_ He staggered again but this time on the second step. He more fell than jumped, letting out a little “eep” at the moment before contact with the water. When he climbed up the ladder, he was glaring at the dock’s surface. Jake was again looking through his binoculars at a handsome oriole who was singing on the bow of someone’s boat that had been raised up alongside their dock. “You’re doing great.”

“It doesn’t feel like it.”

“It’s only been two. Are you ready to go again?”

“Y-yeah.” He planted his feet again, his brows tight together.

 _“Jump in.”_ He could tell immediately that Basil’s body had anticipated the order, his muscles tensing as he willed himself not to obey. He took the first step despite it and planted it firmly down as though stomping on the wooden deck, the small quake impressive.

“ _No!_ ” Basil shouted, his tiny fists balled at his sides. “ _N-No!_ ” He really wouldn’t have gone, Jake thought. That was, until Jake repeated the order.

 _“Jump. In.”_ He could see the realization in Basil’s eyes. The dawning horror of what he perceived to be Jake’s betrayal in his moment of conquest.

Basil jumped in. When he sputtered to the surface, he was yelling. “ _Now that’s just not fair!_ ”

“What’s not fair about it?” Jake asked, a lazy smile on his lips. “You’re doing great. Come back up here and try it again.”

“ _I did it right the first time!_ ”

“You did. And you get a reward for it. But when an Alpha tells you to do something and his intent is malicious, he’s not going to stop. He’s going to continue telling you to do it until you do it.”

Basil sighed heavily, pulling himself up the ladder to the surface of the dock. He stood at the top of the ladder, dripping and dejected. “I know there are Omegas who don’t immediately leap to obey but…but that’s their _nature_. They’re born in families where that’s a trait inherited…”

“It’s a skill like any. Some people are born with natural talent and hone it into a skill and some people decide they will work something up from a base of nothing. When you began playing the violin, did you have a natural talent for it, Basil?” Jake approached him, lifting his hand to tease at the underside of his jaw, lifting his blue eyes and peering down into them.

“Well…some of it was talent…”

“Then there is where your talent lies. You can’t have it all. But you can work yourself up from nothing.”

“I don’t know how…”

Jake smiled and leaned down, pressing his lips against Basil’s until the Omega relaxed again. He eased him open and gently probed him until he could smell the frustration seeping out of him. When he was finished with the small reward, he backed away and stood straight, his affection for this little Omega overflowing. He put a hand on Basil’s wet hair. “You’ll get it. Now do me a favor.”

“What’s that?”

_“Jump in.”_

Basil’s body tensed immediately and he took a sharp breath in, his feet automatically beginning to propel him toward the edge again. “ _N-nnn! No! No! No!_ ” he yelled out, making it two steps before he stopped himself and turned around, pointing an accusing finger toward Jake’s face. “ _You are not being nice!_ ”

“Getting you upset seems to be working.” The sun came out from behind its cloud so Jake took his shades from his shirt collar and put them over his eyes, picking up his binoculars again and searching for the oriole he could hear again. It had moved from the bow of the nearby boat and was singing from somewhere on the opposite shore. As he searched, an odd figure caught his eye and he paused, flitting back to it. “Hmm…” he mused, refocusing his lenses until he could see clearer.

 _A man. An Alpha._ Basil had suggested that it could have been a past handler or bodyguard. “Basil?” he asked softly. “You once told me that it could have been an old bodyguard or handler. Did you have one in mind?”

He huffed, slowly unsticking himself from his spot and calming from the stress of denying the request. “N…No… To be entirely honest, Jake, you’re the only handler I’ve had whose name I remember.”

“Hmm. You don’t make a habit of fucking your bodyguards?”

He gave a loud scoff. “ _Certainly not._ ”

The Alpha in his sights was standing alongside one of the houses he had deemed empty and wasn’t looking over at them. In fact, Jake wasn’t certain what he was doing. He was inspecting something about the house, it seemed, perhaps the window. With a glance back across the lake, perhaps scanning over Jake and Basil, he retreated to the other side of the house, disappearing from view. Jake memorized him. Tall, blonde, in casual clothes that suggested a vacationer. Probably renting the cottage across the way and making certain it was secure.

Jake nodded to himself and then looked down at Basil again. _“Jump in.”_

Basil stomped one foot down, the movement a half-step if it was anything at all. “ _You’re being mean!_ ”

 _“Jump in!”_ This time his tone was loud, blocking out everything else in his ears and putting a primal fear into Basil’s eyes.

“ _N-n-no!_ ” His stomp this time was weaker and unsure.

_“JUMP IN!”_

Basil let out a sob and purposefully let his knees give way, his body crumpling until he was sitting on the dock, tears swimming in his eyes. “ _Don’t…_ ”

Of course, that was the limit, Jake thought. He couldn’t abide the tears. He sat down cross-legged in front of the little Omega and leaned on his knees with his forearms. “Hey.”

Basil wiped at his eyes. “What.”

“You’re doing amazing.”

“I’m sitting here crying.”

“But you’re not in the water.” There was no way he could deny it, Jake thought with only the smallest bit of smugness. “How’d you like to get that little cock sucked…then we can go to the hardware store.”

“For what?”

“I’m thinking about a few extra things…might make it a little easier on us in the long-run.” Mostly he was thinking about that unfamiliar Alpha across the way. Mostly, there was something in his instincts that felt wrong, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. But when Jake Thompson’s guts started telling him something, that wasn’t the kind of message he was willing to ignore. “Come on. I wanna get you to come another few times before I lose this heat altogether.”

_Or before I lose you…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't even think it, Jake.


	13. Chapter 13

“Jake...” he groaned, his fingers toying with the man's dreadlocks. “Oh...god. Whenever this is over...I'm not going to want to let you go. Not with a mouth like this...” Basil sighed, his stomach shivering with the trembles of pleasure caused by each caress of the man's lips and tongue.

“Mmm...” Jake agreed, rocking back and forth as he knelt before Basil where the Omega sat on the edge of the pull-out bed.

“Imagine...imagine if Seth were to come in right now. See us. How...how shocked he would be.”

Jake popped off of him and gave him a lazy smile while he pumped over his length with a giving hand. “You like that idea? You like being caught? You like being _discovered?_ ” He raised up and pressed his lips to Basil's, pleading for him to open and accept a tender exploration. The kiss sent fluttering sensations through the Omega's body and he couldn't help but fully surrender to the Alpha's touch. He wanted Jake to possess him as only an Alpha can possess an Omega. For however long he had feared the _Alpha_ that sought him, he could not fear this one—this one who protected him and kept him from harm. This one who taught him and nursed him, and helped him with everything he required.

“Y-yeah. I l-like...being seen. With you...” He could feel his face burning with the confession and he turned his head away bashfully, gasping suddenly at the feel of Jake's mouth over his hard little cock again, sucking him with gleeful abandon. He wanted to be seen. He wanted to be witnessed. He wanted everyone to see how Jake's dark hands looked over Basil's pale flesh when he gently moved the Omega's chin to kiss him easier. He wanted to be embraced where everyone would know that Jake was his Alpha.

_His Alpha._

“ _Alpha..._ ” he groaned, letting his head loll back as he very slightly rocked back and forth with his hips, gently fucking into Jake's mouth. “ _Mmm...my...my Alpha..._ ” He knew when he said it. His stomach seemed to drop out but only a little—not enough to really stop him from enjoying himself. It was embarrassing but it wasn't...it wasn't anything more embarrassing than what he'd already dealt with when it came to Jake. The fact that the Alpha didn't make all that much of a deal of it helped. He took it in stride. He actually seemed to pretend he didn't hear it, merely continuing his soft and altruistic fellatio until Basil's stomach tensed. “ _I'm...I'm coming...Jake...I'm...coming..._ ”

The Alpha caught it in his hand, coaxing it all out of him with sensual whispered words. He wiped his hand on a nearby towel before he collected Basil in his arms and laid with him for a time, his breath against the Omega's hair.

“Basil?”

“Hmm?”

“How are your fingers?”

“They're getting better. I think I was supposed to have a few more x-rays but...I've been so busy hiding...”

Jake kissed the top of his head. “We'll get you some x-rays if you need them. There's got to be some small-town doc here who's got an x-ray machine we can borrow. Maybe your insurance will cover it.”

Basil smiled and gave a light chuckle. “It will...god...I always forget that there are folks who don't live like I do...who don't have the advantages I do...I must seem so selfish to you. So...spoiled...”

The Alpha's arms tightened around him and he felt safe and warm. He felt very much like a kept man. “I thought you might have been a brat when I first took the job. Judging by your family and your apartment...but you've got a reason to be wary of strangers and of Alphas. You're not some high-maintenance bitch, if that's what you're worried about.”

“I guess it _was_ what I was worried about. I just...I've been so disconnected from everything. I feel like half of it is traveling all over the place and the other half is...is being so...fucking neurotic.”

“If you weren't neurotic, you'd be totally normal. And who wants that?”

He wriggled in Jake's arms, looking up at him and feeling warmth in his heart. “Well...you know what? I think _I_ want that.” He smiled lightly, putting his arms around his lover's waist and pulling their bodies close together. He buried his face in Jake's chest and hugged him tight, his words muffled against his chest. “I want to be good...for you...”

“Why do I get the feeling I'm in a whole hell of a lot more trouble than I thought I was?”

“Because...I...I think you...I think _we_ are...” He held him tighter. “That is...unless I've completely misread you.” The bottom of his stomach was beginning to fall out again. What if he _had_ completely misread Jake? How he'd been tentative to begin something physical because of emotional attachment—could he really have removed himself mentally as to have left this whole thing at arm's length? He had been the one worried about attachment and here Basil was confessing to feelings...what if this was all a mistake? He had begged this Alpha to come through that figurative door rather than locking it to keep him out, and it all could have been one huge fuck up.

Jake ran an affectionate hand over Basil's head. “Hey, hey, hey...you know I can smell you getting all jazzed up about this. You can stop your worrying. I'm not going anywhere. You're a good judge, okay?”

“So you...” he felt tears prick at his eyes. “So you...like me?”

“I more than like you, Basil. I have feelings for you. I don't want to leave you. In fact, I'd love to be with you. But we've gotta make sure you're safe and everything's gonna work out before we get into any gritty logistics here. I gotta know that you're not going to do something stupid because you like me too much.”

“And vice versa?”

“I'm already gonna do everything I can to protect you. Your brother pays me handsomely to do exactly that...and since I know how, it won't be stupid when I do it.”

All at once, he felt emotion overtake him and let out a few relieved sobs, hiding in Jake's chest as he cried. Sheer validation washed over him and everything around him was right—his Alpha's arms, the tightness that kept him together and the warmth that fused his broken pieces in a mending that was a long time coming.

“ _Hey..._ ” Jake whispered, his petting motions in Basil's hair lighter as he sought attention. “We should go to the hardware store before it closes. We just need a few more things and you should get out of the house again...talk to real people.”

He laughed despite his tears, still hiding his face. “You are real people.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Yeah...yeah I know.” He knew but he didn't want to face it. Jake didn't have to get him used to interacting with the outside world again—that wasn't his job. But if Basil was going to come out of this stress heat, he was going to have to get used to going back to his old life—speaking to strangers, dealing with stage managers, event coordinators, make up artists, all the things moving around him that had made it impossible to have any control over anything—except his clothes and his shoes, and the way the sheets were tucked under the mattress of his bed. His arms tightened around Jake's middle. “Jake?”

“Yes, Basil?”

“I'm feeling it...I...I don't know what to do. I don't know what I'm supposed to do. The...the...the _door..._ ”

“Do you want to count to seven?”

“I want...”

“It's okay. You can count to seven. Then we can go to the hardware store. It's _okay_ , Basil.”

He moved to get up, wiping stray tears from his cheeks even as more fell. He stood, pulling his shorts up before he shuffled shyly to the door. The lock was red indicating in big white block letters that it was LOCKED. He stared at it.

_Lock the door. Lock the door. Lock it. Do it. Lock the door. Lock it. What if someone comes in here? What if they come in to murder you? What if they wanna murder Jake? What if they want bad things to happen to you. Bad things will happen to the both of you if you don't lock it. You have to do it._

The compulsion was strong, almost as though puppet strings attached to his arm were pulling it up toward the lock.

“I...” he tried, his voice cutting through his thoughts. “I can break it.”

“You don't have to,” was the reply. He was looking at his t-shirt, stripping it off to replace it with one that wasn't soaked in tears and the scent of anxiety.

“I can do it.”

“I know you can.”

It was this confidence he needed. He pulled his hand away from the door and felt the rubber band of his frustration get pulled a little tighter inside him, feeling like a weight in his chest. He let go of an anxious sigh that made an unconscious sound near to the end—a nervous “huh” that wasn't lost tot he Alpha.

“Basil, you don't have to force yourself. You can count to seven.”

“ _Or_ ,” he tried, his voice a little too loud, “I could count to _nothing._ ” The band tightened again and he felt more hot tears escape his eyes.

Jake was on his feet, casually approaching. “You need to get it out. Count to seven, Omega. Don't even touch the lock. Just count. One.”

“Jake.”

“One.”

He took in a shuddering breath, staring at the bright white lettering against the red background. LOCKED. “One.”

“Two.”

“Two...three...four...five...six...seven.” He let out his breath, the band somewhat loosened. “Seven,” he repeated to himself quietly. “Seven. Seven. Seven. Seven. Seven. Seven.” He sighed and reached out, tapping his finger on top of the door handle seven times. “Okay. Okay...okay.”

“Hardware store?”

“Y-yeah. Okay.”

Without the chill of the lake water, the air was oppressive, the sun raining down over the landscape in a warbling heat that made him regret wearing his flip flops as soon as he'd crunched them down over the gravel drive. He squinted hard against the sunlight, the band in his chest still present but lesser now that he was outside. With Jake's gentle touch over his back, he felt it loosen and then fall away completely, allowing him to get into his father's old car and sit with his head resting back against the seat.

“Jake...”

“Yeah, buddy?”

“I don't want to let you go.”

A smile came to the Alpha's lips that touched Basil's heart. “Then I won't go.”

He nodded. First to Jake and then to himself, closing his eyes as the wind rippled through his damp red hair. He knew instinctively when they'd reached the point where they could turn into the hardware store's parking lot and he raised his hand to greet the wave from Jeffery who was standing just out front with a cigarette between his fingers. The shade from the trees that lined the lot wasn't enough to quell the heat of the afternoon and Basil's body yearned to step inside for the cold relief of air conditioning. Jeffery, it seemed, had other ideas, stepping toward them as he smoked.

“Alpha,” he greeted Jake, immediately turning his eyes to Basil. “Hello, Omega. I saw your brother when he came into town. He stopped for gas across the street.”

“Oh?” he asked, feeling antsy. “Did he speak to you?”

“No, no...just saw him. Though your friend talked to me. Stopped in for a few things and said he might come to see you.”

Jake visibly stilled any incidental movements, his dark eyes trained hard on the older Alpha's face. “Friend?” he asked in a low, dangerous voice. “What friend?”

Basil's heart was starting to pound up toward his throat. “I...I don't...”

Jake didn't let him finish. “Alpha, what did this friend look like?”

He blinked, startled a bit by the change in the both of them before he collected himself and gave his description. “Likable looking guy. A little short for an Alpha, I guess. Light hair, strong chin...looked like a decent sort. You don't know 'im?”

“ _Fuck..._ ” Jake whispered.

Jeffery studied them both, his flaring nostrils clearly taking in the scent of Basil's blatant fear. “I take it this guy isn't exactly on the up and up. Well I'll call the Sheriff, Charlie, and you two get whatever you need from here. This is what those windows and locks were about, huh? Well you can take it from me, I didn't tell the guy where the lake house was...but he probably knows now anyway. Come on.” He ashed his cigarette and then put it out, leaving it smoldering in the tray before he led them both inside the air conditioned store. While he went to the phone, Basil put his hand out to Jake's, squeezing nervously.

Jake squeezed back. “It's gonna be alright, Basil. I'm not going to let anyone touch you. The house is all locked up, Alpha-proof. He'd have to crash through a wall to get in.”

“What if he's waiting for us to get back?” His heart felt like a caged and panicked bird and he could smell his own fear hovering just over his skin.

“He's a cowardly son of a bitch,” Jake replied. “He's not done terrorizing you. He'll leave you a present or a note or something else but he won't come for you unless something triggers him.”

“L-Like...taking a lover?” He felt a lump in his throat. What if he came after Jake? What if Basil's insistence on becoming lovers had put his Alpha in the cross hairs? “I d-don't want you to get hurt.”

The Alpha turned his head to make sure Jeff was on the phone before he leaned down and murmured his reply so that only the two of them could hear. “Basil I wouldn't have taken this job if I was worried about getting hurt. I've been through way worse situations than this one and I didn't even get to fuck a pretty Omega through it.” He passed him an amused glance which did nothing to assuage Basil's anxiety. “Don't you worry about me, sweetheart. I get to do all the worrying for the both of us. I just got you out of that nervous heat, I don't need you falling back into one.”

“I can't help it,” he replied as they disappeared down one of the aisles. Jake was picking up long screws. “What are you doing?”

“For the inside doorplates. If he gets in, I want it to take more than one blow for him to get the inner doors open.”

“If he gets in...Jake, I can't think about that.”

“He's not gonna get in.”

Basil tried to take a calming breath but found it stuttering and odd. Despite the air conditioning, he began to feel hot again. “I can feel the heat...”

Jake sighed. “So much for that being gone by tonight. It's okay, Omega. We take care of this, then we take care of that. Again. That sound good to you?”

“I was...so close. I thought even that maybe...maybe he would have just lost interest in me.”

They took the long nails to the register where Jeff stood, still on the phone with Charlie. When he was finished, he placed the phone back into the cradle and gave them both a commiserating stare. “Charlie's only got himself and two deputies. It's a small town. He's going to come by a few times tonight in his car and come down the drive and turn around, make sure everything's alright. He said if you're in need of something, or there's an emergency, you just turn off the outside light near that back door by the drive. He says as long as that light is on, he'll assume you're alright.”

Jake nodded. “Fair enough.”

 _Fair enough._ Basil supposed it would have to be. There was no other choice. They rang out their purchase and every minute they spent in the car, rushing through the wind down the road toward the lake house was another minute of wary anticipation. What if they were ambushed? What if they were shot in the car before they could even get out? The sun was still shining, still beating down over the lake and the surrounding forests and when they made the turn down the gravel drive, Basil could hardly sit still in his seat. _He knows I'm here. He knows where I am and he knows how to get me. I've no hope. No hope of escape. No hope of safety._

“Calm down, Basil,” Jake told him, his voice nearly abnormal in how steady and placid it was.

“I can't.”

“We're going to get out of the car like nothing's wrong. We're going to go inside like nothing's wrong. We're going to act like we don't know he's here.”

“How long will that last?” He was holding the sides of his seat hard enough to turn his knuckles put white.

“He'll announce himself. However he's going to do it, he'll do it soon.”

Basil again felt tears in his eyes. “I don't want him to.”

“I know, baby. It's okay. You're gonna do great. You're gonna remember everything we went through and you're gonna do great.”

Jake sounded so assured in that moment that Basil almost could have believed it all. That was, until he didn't anymore. He was able to get out of the car. He was able to walk inside. He was able to lock the door seven times. When he stopped at seven and the band of frustration passed, he thought maybe this was going to go well. Maybe Jake was right. Maybe he was going to get through all this without going entirely off his rocker.

It was when he walked tentatively toward the other end of the house that his resolve began to fail. It failed entirely when he spied the note taped to the outside of the sliding glass door.

 _ **Found you.**_


	14. Chapter 14

Basil was sitting, thank god, on the dining room chair. He was shaking like a leaf in the wind while Jake still had the little note in his hand, the yellow paper torn from a pad he’d seen in the garage. He’d retrieved it from the outside, pulling it off the window savagely to inspect it. With a small sniff to the paper, he set it down on the kitchen counter.

_Alpha. Burning rage and an overdeveloped sense of competition. A predator._

He’d closed all the curtains, leaving no possible manner of peeping in through the windows and there Basil sat, in the dim light that could filter in through those curtains, shaking and sweating and smelling like heat incarnate. He was so close. _So close_. His stress would have melted away and he could have gotten a handle on things so much easier. If only they’d had more _time._

“I don’t understand…” Basil whispered.

“What’s that?”

He shook his head. “I don’t understand how he found me.”

Jake sighed and shrugged, making his way to where Basil sat, kneeling in front of him and taking his small hands in a comforting grip. “When he couldn’t find you, he set his sights on your brother. He knew that your brother would come to see you to check on you eventually and when he did—well…”

“So Seth brought him here.”

“He didn’t know. This guy is relentless. He’s not looking for love. He’s got a fantasy he wants to fulfill and likely it’s about hurting you.”

“I’ve asked this so many times before but I can’t stop. I can’t stop, Jake. _Why me?_ ”

The Alpha shook his head. “I don’t know, love. I really can’t say. But we’re gonna end this. This is going to be it. He can’t keep it up forever.” It really was going to be the end, he thought brutally. He was going to make absolutely certain Basil was safe and he was going to do it by any means necessary. An Alpha who even came so close as to breathe in Basil’s scent was going to have to deal with Jake Thompson at his throat.

“Th-the door…”

“It’s locked, baby. You did it seven times when you came in.”

“The um…the sliding door…”

Jake leaned forward and pressed his lips against Basil’s trembling ones, kissing him sweetly before he whispered against his mouth. “They’re all locked. You’re safe with me. You’re safe, baby. You’re _safe._ ” He took him into his arms then, holding him tenderly in a long embrace until he could feel the shaking in his bones cease and the effect of Jake’s scent causing a calmness to wash over him. “I want you to stay here—”

“ _No, Jake—_ ”

“Omega…I want you to stay here. I’m going to walk the perimeter. I’m going to search the barn. It’s going to take me fifteen minutes. If I’m not back in fifteen minutes, I want you to call the police. Alright?”

He was shaking again, his shoulders trembling uncontrollably and his scent tinged with a hideous fear. Tears swam in his eyes.

“Okay?”

“Y-yeah,” was the weak reply.

It was enough for now, he conceded. He wasn’t going to get the real Basil back until this motherfucker was taken care of and that meant in any way possible. He was willing to see the man put in prison but honestly, Jake would rather have seen him dead. He ran his thumbs gently over Basil’s damp cheeks before he got up and moved to the door that led out toward the gravel drive. If the man had a gun, it would be a game-changer but nothing in Jake’s gut told him that this man had a use for one. He thought he was strong. He thought he was _worthy_.

The sun was going down, casting long shadows over sun-heated gravel and the orange light over the barn’s face and the darkness within was an eerie sight. Just as he was going to go check it, he was halted by the voice of the next-door neighbor.

“Mr. Thompson!”

Jake watched the older gentleman lope toward him in that old man kind of gait that suggested too much golf and not enough stretching. “Mr. Anderson,” he greeted solemnly.

“I was hoping I’d catch you before you came back but I was just on my way to knock on the door. You told me before to tell you if we saw anything odd.”

“What’d you see?”

The older Alpha’s face was crinkled in an expression which betrayed a profound discontent when he put his hands to his hips and hooked his thumbs through his belt loops. “The wife told me she was doing the dishes and saw a man walk down the side of Walt’s house here toward the lake. Said he was tall, broad-shouldered like yourself, wearing shorts, a t-shirt, and a hat. Couldn’t tell his hair color but she said he was real pale. Fish-belly white she called ‘im.”

“She see him come back the other way?”

“That’s the funny part. No, she didn’t. She told me she thought he must have gone around the other side of the house 'cause she didn’t see him walk down toward the lake. If you’d like, I’d gladly call the Sheriff for you.”

“That might not be a bad idea but I don’t think it’ll do much good. He’s well into his hiding place now but it’s anyone’s guess where that might be. Knowing his type, he’s not too far away. He’s gotta know if we book it out of here and go somewhere else. He’s mobile and he’s ready. Might be watching the driveway or the house from somewhere…doesn’t have to be near.” He peered around, eying the barn.

“Well I’ll call the Sheriff if you want to check that barn. Holler if you find anything. I don’t want nothin’ to happen to Walt’s boy. Not while I’m right next door.” He retreated then back to his home and disappeared within, leaving Jake to discover alone what horror might be concealed in the loft lit only by sunset glow.

He drew closer, his sneakers crunching over the gravel as a strange sensation crawled into the pit of his stomach. The note had come from the barn’s garage. The predator had hidden within. He had roamed freely over this very ground, confident in his movements and his worth as an Alpha. He sought to destroy that which Jake held close to his heart and it was that emotion he felt that could be his undoing. This was a job. This was his life. He would keep Basil safe and leave all emotion from clouding his judgment. But how was it to be so easy when he was flooded constantly by the lingering scent of a beautiful boy’s heat over his clothes and his skin? How could he find his mind to be clear when he was haunted by crystal blue eyes and brilliant red hair?

He could feel the sun on his back when he reached the barn’s open garage door, the whole of the bottom floor empty as the car had been left in the drive. The stairs, off to the right, seemed a foreboding set, staring at him and daring him to rise. The unfortunate aspect of those stairs was that it was possible for a villain to have a good crack at him from any number of angles as the opening above left not only his flank open when he emerged but his back as well.

_Nothing for it, Jake. You have to go._

He climbed slowly, one hand upon the railing and the other holding his baton which he dutifully expanded in preparation.

It couldn’t help him. About halfway up the staircase, his foot found purchase upon a step that bowed beneath him and, in recognition of the article as a trap, he placed more weight upon the rail, propelling himself to skip said step and landing far heavier upon the one that came next—a movement that his enemy had apparently anticipated.

The second step had been tampered with most heinously, the middle sawed until only the slightest segment of wood could keep it together and so it broke rather cleanly down the middle. Such a thing would have mainly merely served as an inconvenience had the previous stair not been tampered with as well, the second foot coming down upon that one as a fail-safe and it being utterly unable to support the brace. It snapped heavily, splinting dramatically as Jake’s other foot went through it.

He would have plummeted at the very least fifteen feet had he not reached out with both hands and caught hold of the next step up which had not been cut, the whole of his weight being held entirely by his arms as he dangled between splintered and broken wooden boards, his baton clattering down those fifteen feet to clang uselessly against the old metal toolbox below.

“ _Son of a bitch!_ ” he yelled out, his fingers grasping at the unfinished wood. Had the villain arrived at only just this moment, he would have been finished for certain. His distress was marked by a strong spice in his own scent but it was nearly nullified by the effect of Basil’s lingering heat scent and so Jake calmed himself, breathing evenly through tight lips while he took stock of his situation.

_The bastard’s not here. If he were, he would have introduced himself by now. He would have made his final blow as soon as I had myself right here. Pull up, Jake. You’re not going to get brained as soon as you do so you might as well finish what you stared._

Utilizing _Alpha_ strength was a gamble as it often left a man much too tired in the aftermath, so he endeavored to keep the stress upon his body limited, swinging before pulling up to gain the required momentum to avoid it. He pulled himself up, placing all his trust in this particular step before he grasped at the railing again, hoping to god the man had not planned for his quarry to survive this far. It seemed his trust was well-placed and he inspected closely every step further until he could peer over the lip of the loft.

 _Empty. Thank god._ It was easy to note that there had been someone here—leftover tools from his trap-making endeavor had been left haphazardly on the floor along with bits of sawdust and the fading stink of a foreign Alpha. The sliding door on the backside of the barn was ajar and the branches of the maple just outside suggested that the villain was here when they arrived and escaped from the back loft door into the tree outside on foot. But where had he gone next? If he was on foot, was he close enough to have been watching he and Anderson? Was he close enough to hear them?

If so, he must know that Basil was inside the house alone. If so…

Jake felt a hard fury begin to manifest in his heart and he moved to the back loft door, finding the easy way down via the branches and taking it, keeping his eyes out for the predator as he did so. The man was _here_. There was instinct in that and Jake wasn’t going to ignore it. The villain—the stalker— _the absolute raging piece of shit_.

He scanned with his eyes over the drive and then glanced at his watch. It had been only ten minutes. He still had time. Anderson had said he was to call the Sheriff anyway—but Jake didn’t want Basil to worry for him. The Omega had plenty on his mind, he didn’t need to think his Alpha was in danger. If he did, he might do something stupid—and Jake couldn’t allow that. He moved quickly, approaching Anderson’s cottage, close to the door when he knocked loudly, rattling the windowpane.

“Anderson?” he called out.

_Nothing._

Jake’s heart beat harder. “Anderson?!”

_Goddamnit._

He tried the door handle and was alarmed to find it unlocked, the flimsy wooden door swinging open on a small kitchen with one exit door on the opposite side.

_So it’s come to this._

He supposed he shouldn’t have been surprised. The man was relentless and desperate. He was, in all ways, a horror of a human being. There was something profoundly disturbed about him and it had driven him to lengths that seemed improbable and nonsensical. Here, that horror took its most heinous turn.

The curtains were stained with blood spatter. It hadn’t even had time enough to become sticky—still slippery and bright red. There was no doubt Mrs. Anderson was dead—the top half of her head had been obliterated by an Alpha’s determination, grayish brain matter mingled with matted white hair and blood over the countertops.

_Son of a bitch. Son of a BITCH._

This was the worst he’d ever seen. That was for certain. It might have been enough to shake him but it wasn’t enough to stop him. He was close. He was so close to this fucker, he could taste the satisfaction of putting him down. If he’d taken the time to get his baton, perhaps he’d have been feeling a little more secure in this notion—but still, he’d do it with his hands if he had to.

All he really had to do was wait over five minutes and Basil would be calling the cops. But what about before then? What about when he found the bastard? He moved through the house, breathing deep to keep his eyes from tunneling through his adrenaline. Mr. Anderson was laying on the floor in the living room, the poor old man having obviously given a hell of a struggle before his throat was crushed by a large, Alpha hand. His dead eyes stared unseeing at the ceiling and Jake couldn’t help but kneel down by his side to close them. He checked for a pulse at his wrist just in case and, when he found none, he looked around for the man’s phone, finding nothing.

_Maybe the poor bastard did get a hold of the Sheriff first._

He moved quickly after this, opting to exit via the couple’s back door which led out onto a covered porch. He retreated into the yard, scanning over the hill down to the lake and then over to their own porch and sliding door. There was no way this fucker could get in and he couldn’t evade Jake forever. Not if he wanted Basil.

Consciously, he made a decision and one he might regret should it go poorly. He allowed his body to go lax and loosened his stance, letting his shoulders droop as if in some kind of relief. He stood this way for a moment or two before he made to step forward, entirely aware that the edge of the Anderson cottage was near to his flank. It was a gamble and one that paid off when he felt the swooping presence of an Alpha come for him.

He turned at the very last moment, capturing one wrist in his big hand and pulling until the man had lost his balance, sending him careening in an uncontrolled stumble until his head cracked against the cottage’s siding, causing the sliding door to rattle in its tracks and no doubt alerting Basil who sheltered within.

“Found _you,_ ” Jake growled, advancing like a panther toward its prey.

The man didn’t reply but rolled to get up, his movements surprisingly fluid as he came to his feet, his certainty surely born of an unnatural state of mind. His eyes were wild, a hard and icy blue contrasted sharply by the dark red of his blood in the light of the setting sun. He kept his eyes upon Jake as he backed up between the two houses, clearly in want of an open space like the gravel drive.

“Did you think I wouldn’t catch you, Alpha?” Jake asked him, his voice low and vibrating. He could feel the rage boiling in his chest, threatening the calm he normally espoused. It was more difficult now that he was faced with the interloper—with the killer. His tattered ballcap had come off in the struggle, his hair a messy dirty blonde and blood gushing from a gash just above his hairline. It made him appear almost feral, the way he moved and the unsettling nature of his gaze.

_He can’t even hear me. He’s too far gone. The fantasy is too close for him to register reality at all._

The killer pounced forward without a tell, launching himself into a full-bodied attack which took Jake only a little off guard. He met it with a shoulder but wasn’t enough for the strength of madness. Driven to the gravel, he felt it prick him through his t-shirt and grate over the flesh of his arms as he hit the ground. Rolling back and forth, exchanging growls, grunts, and blows, Jake allowed his adrenaline to reign, driving him into a fury barely contained. Logic and reason wouldn’t perform against an enemy who knew none. He couldn’t feel his wounds though he knew he sustained them and it was only when fear gripped him that he felt a hard hand come over his throat.

“Nnggh!” he gurgled, clutching at the Alpha’s arm, kicking with his legs as he was manipulated to lay with his back atop the predator. He couldn’t let panic grip him. It would kill him if it could more than this Alpha even.

“ _OMEGA!!!_ ” the man screamed, his _Alpha_ voice hard and loud and intense against the softness of twilight.

There was a pause.

“ _OPEN THE DOOR._ ”

 _No! Basil don’t! Please, for the love of God, don’t open the door!_ He couldn’t speak. He could barely breathe so hard was the pressure over his throat and he kicked and wriggled. His struggle was hard for his assailant but not quite enough for him to break free, only inciting the man to squeeze harder.

“ _OPEN THE DOOR._ ”

A second command. Jake could have wept. Basil wasn’t equipped for this. He wasn’t equipped for how many times it might have been said. If he could overcome this one, there would be a third if Jake couldn’t break free. He struggled mightily, skinning the man’s shins with the heels of his sneakers and elbowing him in the ribs as hard as he could. His vision began to fade.

_Don’t ask him again. Please, please, God, don’t let him ask again._

_“OMEGA!!! OPEN THE_ _**FUCKING**_ _DOOR!!!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OwO;;;


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Content Warnings: Abusive Language, Trauma, Presumed Death, Blood

He’d done well. Objectively he knew he’d done far better than most Omegas in his shoes. He’d resisted the first two commands despite the panic and the fear that made him shake and nearly convulse with tremors where he stood. Slick and urine coursed down his legs, forming a pool that soaked into the thin carpeting of the back room as his hand was tight on the door handle, twisting it against the lock which held it over and over again, pushing and pulling as if he could open it.

_It’s locked, baby. You did it seven times when you came in._

Jake’s voice was calm inside his head even as he panted against his own panic, his eyes unfocused as he stared at the red panel.

_You’re safe._

Seven times. He’d done it seven times. Seven times locking and the door wouldn’t open. Couldn’t open. It was _locked._ Even as he breathed in quick, shallow gasps, he let out a humorless laugh which mixed then into a desperate sob.

_It’s locked, baby._

The phone was on the floor, the corner of it just barely dipped into the puddle at his feet. The screen was lit up but he was too far-gone to know what he’d dialed. Had he called the police? He couldn’t hear anything over the ringing in his ears, the fear that had killed his thoughts. He was in a state of simple existence and his only task—the only one he couldn’t complete—was to open the door. He kept acting out the motion, the knob refusing to turn past the lock that held it in place.

“N-n-no,” he sobbed, his lower lip trembling. Without thinking, he pulled his hand from the knob, refusing to turn it any longer. He brought the back of his shaking hand to his nose and wiped the snot away from it, using the heel of his palm to wipe at the tears on his cheeks. When he stumbled backwards, his foggy eyes found the curtain over the window to the outside and he reached for it to peer out toward the drive. “ _No,_ ” he whispered. _I’m not opening the door._

Jake was fighting with him. They were on the ground grappling with each other, rolling over each other and trying like hell to succeed in putting the other down. Jake was beneath him. Jake was choking. Jake was kicking out, spraying gravel with the heel of his shoes in his struggle.

Jake was losing.

Basil’s whole world seemed to explode outward from the tunnel it had become at the sound of the man’s voice. His bare feet thudded against the carpet and skidded over the linoleum of the kitchen where he rummaged in the drawer until he found a small, sharp paring knife that he could conceal easily in the pocket of his shorts. With that done, he wiped his sweating palms on the front of his damp shirt and, still shaking, came to the door, staring at the little red window indicating its locked state.

_It’s locked, baby._

“Okay…” he said aloud to the empty room and reached for it. _Click_. “One.” _Click._ “Two.” _Click._ “Three.” _Click_. “Four.” _Click_. “Five.” _Click_. “Six.” _Click_. “Seven.”

Green showed through that little window and with a few more sweeping breaths and a heavy swallow, Basil twisted the handle and pushed the door open, letting the diffused pink and orange light of the sun in through the entryway.

_You did it seven times when you came in._

He took a step, letting the bottom of his barefoot soak in the warmth of the metal plating that marked the doorway. The gravel pinched at the bottom of his other foot as he took his next step out, staring at the Alpha who was struggling with Jake.

Slick ran down both his legs again, filling the outside air with the stench of his heat and dampening the dry gravel beneath him. The smell of it caught the attention of both Alphas and Jake’s desperate stare met him—a sorry look. An apology.

 _No need,_ Basil thought flatly as he took a few more steps toward the pair.

His eyes were icy. Pale and blank. Basil thought he might have remembered this man from somewhere but it seemed as though he could only remember him in halves of ways. Maybe he was someone he’d seen in passing, maybe he was a bodyguard or a handler who hadn’t lasted very long. Maybe he had been someone else that Seth had hired to work around him. There had been so many people in his life—how could he have remembered them all? He didn’t know the man’s name—he didn’t care. All he wanted now was vengeance. And he would have it.

The man took advantage of Jake’s stunned state and hit him hard twice, the Alpha losing consciousness at the sudden blows. When he’d completed that task, he shook his sore and bloody hand and stood, spitting on the unconscious Alpha before he turned toward Basil fully, his lip split and blood still streaming from a wound near his hairline, clumping pale strands together in a sanguine cascade.

His voice was low and almost rasping. “So you’ve come to me. After everything. You walk out to me. You resist my voice and then what? You can’t resist trying to save your pity fuck? Or did the scent of a warring Alpha finally get to that itch between your legs?”

Basil didn’t speak. He tried to concentrate on taking deeper breaths, his ears ringing in his head.

“I’ve watched you, sweet thing. I’ve thought about all the nasty, wretched shit I’m gonna put you through. You should have come to me sooner. I wouldn’t have had so much time to think on it. Maybe it woulda hurt you less.”

_Why me?_

He still didn’t speak, standing still and feeling the cool breeze that rustled through the pines along the roadside. He heard the call of the swallowtails that made nests in the barn and felt the gentle kiss of every butterfly that came to him for a drink.

“You look real pretty today, sweet thing. You’re gonna look real pretty when you’re in my hands…when you’re screaming for mercy.”

_It’s a pride thing. It’s violence. He wants me to fear. He can have it. It’s free. It’s right here. Come get it, you sick son of a bitch._

“It’s something in your blood. Omegas are all like this, you know,” he explained, his voice gaining a hard breathy texture. “They all want to be dominated. They all have an instinct deep inside that makes them wanna witness power, even if it hurts them. Even if it kills them.”

A butterfly landed just above his right eyebrow and he resisted the urge to touch the handle of the paring knife through the nylon of his shorts to make sure it was still there.

 _It’s still there, baby,_ Jake’s voice told him calmly in his head. The real Jake’s chest was gently moving up and down, his face turned away from Basil and his blood sprayed out over the gravel. _You’re safe with me._

“Oh, my pretty boy. Aren’t you gonna come over here? Aren’t you gonna come to me? Aren’t you ready for me? You came out here so you must be ready.” He smiled a vicious smile, his eyes a glittering dead. “Maybe you just need a little help.” His tone took the sharp edge of _Alpha_. “ _Come to me._ ”

Basil took one step. He brought his bare feet together on the gravel and stopped. _No. You come to me, you piece of festering shit._

The man’s head ticked to the side, his face tight when he managed a small half-smirk. “Got a little trick up your sleeve there, huh? You know the loopholes, I guess. One of those _free_ Omegas, huh? Didn’t peg you for the type. I guess that’s another thing I’ll think about when you’re pleading. Your type don’t deserve mercy, you know. Now, _get your ass over here._ ”

Basil took one more step. He brought his feet together again and swallowed hard. _I hope it’s worth it. I hope you enjoy every single second of this._

He let out a breath of a laugh and shook his head. “Incredible. How much I thought I knew you and here you still surprise me. So sweet the butterflies can’t even resist you. How could you blame me? Look at you. So beautiful. So sweet. So wet for me. I love your stink. I told you that. I told you that in my letters. I know you got them. Sometimes you’d throw them out but I’d fish ‘em out of the trash just to smell that stink from your fingers when you touched them. I can’t wait to smell your stink all over me.” He took a step, the gravel crunching beneath his boots. After this, he paused.

 _You pathetic excuse of an Alpha. Come on! I’m right here! I’m_ _**right fucking here.**_

“Do you want a kiss, pretty thing? Is that what you want?”

Basil stared into his eyes, his throat too tight to reply.

“I’ll kiss you. If you ask me for kiss.”

It took him a minute. The butterflies still fluttered around him. Nine or ten of them. They kissed his neck sweetly and tickled him while they flew. His voice sounded foreign to his own ears, as though he were not himself when he spoke. “…w-why me?”

“What?”

Familiar rage began to build up in his chest but there were no more tears. “ _Why. Me._ ”

He slightly shook his head, a realization dawning over him that was uniquely unpleasant. “You…you don’t remember me.”

“No.”

“You…don’t… _remember me?_ ” he asked, his tone taking on a disturbing incredulousness. “I…I was…I was at _every…_ ” He wiped his mouth with his hand. “I took…I…I drove…” The Alpha took in a hard breath through his nose, glaring at Basil’s bare feet. “I was…everywhere.”

Basil let himself have a shaking sigh. “And I was fucking _busy_.”

“And you were always fucking busy,” he agreed. “I thought that without your violin, you’d have more time to think about being with me.”

“So you broke my fingers.”

“They’d heal. I could have done worse. In fact, I’ve thought a lot about all the worse things I could do to you. But all I wanna do now is get my _fucking kiss!_ ” He spat the last words, his spittle flying from his lips with his rage.

Basil swallowed again, his voice a whisper in the cool air. “ _So come get me, Alpha._ ”

His approach, when it came, was fast and hard and his hands came to Basil’s head gripping him savagely. The Alpha took one long moment to stare into Basil’s eyes, madness shining in his gaze, before he drew down and took his mouth in a hard, punishing kiss.

It surprised Basil how easy it was to sink a knife into a man’s belly. His other hand came around the waist of the Alpha that gripped him and he plunged the sharp little paring knife into him quickly, over and over again until he’d gasped and began to struggle. Basil kept a tight grip on him, adrenaline pulsing through his veins and giving him an almost supernatural strength when the Alpha tried to pry him off. He could feel wetness—the man’s blood—over his thighs and splashing over his bare feet.

“ _Come and get me, Alpha,_ ” he repeated, “ _Come and get me. Come and get me. Come and get me._ ”

He didn’t know how many times he managed to stab the man before he’d stumbled backwards far enough that his heels found Jake’s form and he’d tripped over him, falling on his back appearing dazed and lost. Basil struggled to get up, kneeling heavily on the shocked Alpha and adjusting his grip on the slippery little knife before he began to plunge it down again with his fist, each blow whipping him up into further frenzy.

“ _ **Come and get me, Alpha! Come and get me! Come and get me! Come and get me!**_ ”

Arms came around him, warm steel softness and the overwhelming calming spice of a _real_ Alpha. _Jake. It’s Jake._

_You’re safe with me._

“Oh baby,” Jake murmured in his ear, kissing the back of his head sweetly. “Baby, you’re okay. You’re okay. Shhhhh…drop the knife, baby. You’re okay now. Just drop it like it is, you’re safe, baby. You’re safe.”

“S-safe…” he parroted, the little paring knife dropping from his hand just as reality began to crash down over him again, the tiny scope of his world again exploding outward just as the Sheriff’s Ford Explorer was making a hard turn down the long drive, skidding over the loose gravel enough to slide a bit to the side.

The Sheriff was out of breath when he opened the door, getting out and taking one look at the scene before him before he leaned back over his seat and grabbed his radio to call it in. When that was done, he pulled off his reflective sunglasses and put his hands to his hips. “ _Goddamnit._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Never underestimate what a man driven to the edge of his sanity might do to you for putting him there.


	16. Chapter 16

Dr. Abbott was shining a light into Basil’s eyes one at a time, his lips tight together and his scent mild and calming. It had been twenty-four hours since _the event_ and Basil’s heat was fading again. Jake’s facial swelling had diminished a fair amount and the local doctor had tended to them both at the scene. Seth, of course, had insisted upon bringing Dr. Abbott to see Basil as soon as was possible though the Alpha couldn’t see why that would be necessary, save for the concept of familiarity.

“I understand,” the Beta doctor mused as he clicked off his small flashlight and took care to look into Basil’s eyes without it, “that the Alpha is still alive.”

Jake cleared his throat. “So far. He’ll need a few surgeries to stay that way. Basil did a number on him but the knife was small.”

“It’s good that this is all over with. Your heat is fading and you’re in good hands, it seems.”

Basil nodded a bit, letting out a shuddering breath. “I might stay here for a little while…like a vacation. I think Seth is itching for me to go back to New York but with things how they were…I’m not ready yet.” His blue eyes caught Jake’s his expression tinged with a slight sadness. What he was trying to get at with all of this was that he wasn’t ready to be without Jake. He wasn’t ready to have his support system torn away from him quite yet. Sitting on the edge of the wicker lounge on the covered porch, he was being accosted by three brave little butterflies who took turns landing on him.

“I think that’s a fine idea. The man who did this to you has no power over you now and it’s time to decompress. I think it’d be a good idea to continue to have Mr. Thompson with you. He’s been a steady support from how I understand it.”

Seth emerged from the sliding glass door at that moment, giving Jake a hard stare in response to the doctor’s words. “I’d rather Mr. Thompson went home.”

Basil jerked his head to glare at his brother. “Don’t listen to him, Jake. Nobody can fire you except me…and you’re not fired.”

Seth let out a breath through his nose. “Basil, I’d like a word with you. Alone.”

Dr. Abbott’s voice was calm and soft while he moved his head to peer at Seth. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Seth, if you’re at odds with a relationship that’s built up between them, you can take that up with your brother later when he’s not been attacked just a day ago by a man who meant great harm to him. Mr. Thompson, Jake, is an Alpha who means him no harm and has not committed any crime against him.”

“Rape isn’t a crime?” Seth asked, his placidity clearly a ruse.

Basil stood up suddenly, his scent sharp with anger. “You will take that back! Jake’s done nothing to me that I didn’t want him to do! I regret nothing, _Beta!_ ” He spat the last word, his eyes shining with his clear fury. “Jake and I having become lovers is none of your business and aside from that, he’s a good and decent Alpha. I won’t have you suggesting that what we’ve done together was anything less than one hundred percent consensual! _You don’t know what it’s like to be violated the way I’ve been!_ ”

Jake came to him, sliding his hand over Basil’s small shoulders, gripping him until he could pull him against his chest. “Hey, hey, hey,” he murmured softly. “It’s okay. You’re alright now. Nobody’s gonna hurt you.”

Basil sobbed softly into him, hiding his face in Jake’s chest and warming him with his hot tears. “I’m not going to lose you, Jake. I’m not. I won’t. Don’t leave me. Don’t leave me, please.”

“Hey, nobody’s leaving anybody, okay?” A lump began to form in his throat as he petted Basil’s hair. He was ninety-nine percent sure that he was telling the truth. There was no way in hell anyone but Basil Zolanowski himself could make him go away, that was for sure. But what happened when Seth finally got to talk to him? What happened when someone convinced him that it was for the best if they separate? What if he finally realized that something like _this_ wasn’t meant to be permanent?

Dr. Abbott readjusted so he could lean back in his chair. “Seth, I think I should stay here. For a few days. I’ll keep an eye on Basil, and you should go back to the city.”

“What?”

“Catch the next flight out from Buffalo and go home. When Basil’s ready to come back, I’ll come back with him and Jake. His fingers are on their way to being completely healed and he can get back to his violin when he’s ready.”

“But—”

“Really, Seth. The boy doesn’t have to work anymore if he doesn’t want to. The financial adviser, Mr. Mallory, has let it slip that with his investments how they are, it would be feasible for him to retire now. Another stressful tour through an untold number of countries isn’t going to be recommended for his agenda for a little while anyway. Let him rest. Let him talk about things without worrying about you trying to be his keeper when you should be trying to be his brother.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“I couldn’t be more serious. What Basil needs right now is Jake. Not you. There is something to be said about the formation of strong bonds—”

“ _They’re bonded!?_ ”

Jake put out a hand. “No—”

“I swear to god, Alpha if you’ve marked him—”

“I _haven’t_ ,” he replied, a little louder than he wished to. It wasn’t _Alpha_ toned but it was loud enough and it caused Seth to pause in his speech. “Basil and I would have to have a long conversation about something like that. I wouldn’t take that as lightly as you seem to think I would. I’m not some kind of savage.”

“Aren’t you?” he asked, his voice sounding weary. “I come back after having left him with you and you’ve taken it upon yourself to ‘help’ him how other Alpha’s 'help’ when an Omega is desperate.”

Abbott was the one to respond. “Seth, you’re discounting your brother’s agency here. He was in heat, not a coma. There are plenty of Omegas who are perfectly able to make decisions when consumed by their heats and pardon me but a three week heat had to find its end somehow—a good romp was likely one of the more natural ways to go about it. Honestly, I think I could applaud Mr. Thompson for holding out as long as I’m sure he did against Basil’s insistence.”

Jake cast an appreciative glance at the man. “Thank you, doctor…it was difficult…I…developed feelings, as you can imagine.” He felt Basil squeeze at him around his waist, the Omega still hiding his face. “Come on Basil, you can stab a man in the gut twenty times but you can’t talk to your brother?”

“I don’t want to be shamed for what I’ve done. I’ve faced far too much shame in my life and I do it to myself every day in my own head. I don’t need someone telling me that I’ve done something reprehensible when I know damn well that I haven’t.” He was shaking a little, his fingers gripping into Jake’s shirt at his back. He smelled sweet but not sweet enough to be tempting.

Seth put a hand through his hair and gave a grumbling sigh. “Fine. I’ll go back to New York. I’ll have the lawyers call you. They’re looking over your statement you gave to the Sheriff and they’ll call you. It’s all paperwork now anyway.”

Basil didn’t answer, choosing to keep his face buried against Jake’s chest until his brother had relented and gone back inside to pack up the small amount of his things and go back to the city. It wasn’t kind of him to reject his own brother but Seth had never been the most altruistic of brothers despite his dutiful nature as Jake understood it.

“Are you going to look at me?” Jake asked him, kissing the top of his head once so that he would turn his face up. When he did, Jake very softly pressed his lips against his mouth. “That’s my Basil. Do you want to talk? Dr. Abbott said you fired your therapist.”

“He was a fuckwad.”

“He was probably just trying to help.”

Basil let go of him, slowly wandering in his bare feet across the outdoor carpet to the chair he’d been sitting in. When he was back in it, he looked at the doctor and pinched his mouth to the side while the cicadas whirred in the distance. He was looking over at the house next door, still blocked off by police barriers and police tape, a dark rusty stain still evident where they could see it on the siding. “I don’t know what to think. I don’t have regrets about you, Jake. None at all.”

Jake smiled at him, his face where the Alpha had hit him aching with the motion. “I’ve got plenty of regrets about you…how I couldn’t protect you…”

“You did your protection. I did what I did because I was brave enough to do it. You taught me that bravery. You taught me that courage. If you hadn’t been with me, if you hadn’t made seven my number…I couldn’t have gotten out. If I didn’t know beyond anything in my life that I had to be with you, he would have killed you and I would have been trapped knowing that you were out there and I couldn’t overcome my own stupid head enough to do something about it. You made it possible for me to do what I did to save you and myself. That was all you, Jake.” He wasn’t crying but Jake nearly was, tears stinging at his eyes.

“I was supposed to—”

“Fuck what you were supposed to do. What you _did_ saved my life. I’ve never had a therapist able to do what you did for me.”

The Alpha had to clear his throat several times to curb the lump that was forming there. “Basil…I’m so in love with you…I can’t…”

“I don’t care what Seth says. Mother is going to love you. So how about we stay here for another week, we deal with the Sheriff and all that, and we come to terms…with the doctor here, of course.”

“Don’t mind me,” Abbott told them, sipping his iced tea. “I’ll stay right out of your way.”

The Omega grinned. “I guess the only thing I’ve really got to be upset about is Mr. Anderson. I feel…horror. Just…sheer horror. I can’t even process it. Not right now. It’s like being numb.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Jake replied, coming to him where he sat and kneeling before him. “I know you and I know where your thoughts are going to take you. It wasn’t your fault what happened. There is only one person who takes the blame for any of this—the man who did it.”

“Chevy Wilkes…” Basil sighed. “Who names their kid after a car make?”

He was smiling again, reaching out to take Basil’s hands in his as he knelt before him. “How do you feel knowing his name?”

“He was angry…that I didn’t remember him. It’s funny…should I remember him? I don’t know. I don’t remember his face…I don’t remember his name…I don’t remember anything about him. He wasn’t a bodyguard. I would have remembered a bodyguard. But he said he was everywhere. I almost…pity him.”

Dr. Abbott leaned forward. “That’s probably all you can do and it’s probably a healthy feeling. It’s your overwhelming compassion. He’s done horrible things to you and people around you but you still feel bad for him. That’s good, Basil. I think so, anyway.”

Jake nodded. “I think so too. You’re a kind, sweet Omega. You’re supposed to feel.”

A few tears slipped out of Basil’s eyes, wiped away by Jake’s fingertips. “I think…I think I’d still do what I did. I didn’t mean to do it so many times…but…something in me took over. I guess…” He let out a nervous chuckle. “I guess seven wasn’t the lucky number then, huh?”

“Basil, god,” Jake laughed. “Well…I guess if you can’t laugh at it, there’s no point in life, huh?”

“Yeah…I guess. And um…while I’ve got myself in kind of a weird state, you said to Seth that a bondmark would a serious conversation and—”

“A serious conversation that has to happen when you’re not shell shocked.”

He licked his lips. “I don’t wanna be anyone else’s.”

“I don’t wanna be anyone else’s either. But we should get you back to your good old self again before we talk about bondmarking and getting mated and whatever else, okay? That’s not a no. That’s a 'hell yes after you’re all better’ alright? That’s me saying yes. But I need you to be ready to fly out to Bucharest to play your violin before we’re ready for something like that.”

He nodded, a smile evident despite his tears. “Okay. But I expect a bite in Bucharest then.”

“You’ll have it.”

“Promise?”

“Absolutely. I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god, am I about to double update to finish this off?


	17. Chapter 17

It was raining the night Basil went on stage to perform. He’d done small performances up until now to get back into the groove of living and working the way he’d done before and now that everything was fixed—his fingers and his life—he was beginning to come back into the world he’d left to find that nobody had forgotten him. Or his eccentricities. He sat on his little metal chair, graceful as he could possibly be while the music wafted across the acoustically gifted architecture of Sala Palatului. There was a decent crowd as he had found most of the denizens of Bucharest were quite fond of music and he played without thinking overly hard about what it had taken to finally get here. What it had taken from his soul.

Music was the calmer. Music was the helper. Music helped to tame the thoughts that came to him without his own will to guide them. It was better now, of course. With time and with the rule of seven and with Jake.

 _Jake._ He smiled to himself. It was impossible for the music to drown all of his intrusive thoughts—mostly all it could destroy were the bad ones. It couldn’t push out the thoughts he had of his Alpha. His Alpha who would, tonight, throw him down upon a bed and bite him and claim him so that he might be shown to the world as an Omega who had conquered. All he had conquered and he was most proud of having found and captured his dutiful, loving, and protective bodyguard. He could not care less in that moment of Tchaikovsky. Not when just in the wings was a man who watched him and knew him as no other man knew him.

He’d come back into his work to find that those Alphas he had enjoyed the company of previously were wary of him. Not for Jake so much as for the news that had spread of how the _predator_ had fallen by his hand. Though the man wasn’t dead and was, in fact, in prison awaiting the trial did not dissuade them from their intimidation. An Omega who was just mad enough to defy an Alpha’s _voice_ and repeatedly stab him…it was not something they were comfortable with. It was _unnatural_ to many to find an Omega capable of something so disturbing and they avoided him judiciously when they could, choosing to forget how they had held him and worshiped him before everything had fallen apart. Of course, it wasn’t always _that_ which made them avoid him. There was at least Anton Rechov who had come to him and worried over him and asked of him his health and his wellness. This Alpha was put off not by Basil’s ordeal but by the cool warning stare of his mate.

It seemed that no soft-handed musicians felt themselves a fair match against huge and uncompromising _close protection agent_ , Jake Thompson. For that, Basil supposed he must have been grateful. All of those moments before _the event_ that Basil could remember being backed into a corner by men who claimed to adore him and being forced into after parties by social niceties and now—now he had someone who could stand beside him who was more than just a flimsy Beta brother. How had he ever survived before with such loose handlers? How had he ever survived with bodyguards who did not know him personally? Who could not interpret the desperate glances he sent them begging them to give him a way out?

He resisted the urge to look over to where Jake stood and held himself still and elegant as he finished his piece, the notes reverberating over the audience members. It was only at the end of every performance, when the listeners stood up to clap that he noticed the way his clothes stuck to his skin and how much he had perspired in the hot stage lights. He stood up, his knees feeling a little like jelly before he bowed to the audience and removed himself, nearly stumbling when he reached the edge of the stage and Jake who waited for him there.

“You’re alright?” Jake asked, gracefully taking his violin from his hand to place it in its case. The first time he’d tried such a thing, Basil had nearly convulsed with panic but now it was as easy as a breath and the trust in the Omega had overridden any of his usual nervousness.

“I’m fine. Just a little wobbly. Sitting for so long, even with an intermission, is a bit of a chore sometimes. You know…these long programs didn’t seem so long before…”

“Do you think you’ll get used to it or is it time to lighten the load?”

He’d been asked this question before. “I’ll get used to it again. Music is my life, Jake. I’ll be performing until I’m old and gray. I’ll just bring a walker out on stage with me if it becomes too bad.”

The man laughed as people bustled around them and carried Basil’s violin case while he escorted him through the people backstage toward the door where the car sat just outside. Anton, of course, was along the edge waiting for him to come by.

“A stunning performance, Basil. Incredible. I’ve heard there are a few parties about the city tonight and there are plenty of influential people who’ve attended. Perhaps you’d like to speak with them?” His warm hazel eyes flicked back and forth from Basil to Jake, nervous in the presence of the much larger Alpha.

Basil counted to seven before he responded. “Thank you for thinking of me, Anton, but Jake and I have made plans for this evening. Very important plans to lay in bed and not get out of it until we absolutely have to in order to catch a flight.”

“Ah, I see you’ve now got an enabler for your hermit-like ways.” He let Jake have a nervous smile. At the very least, he was trying.

Jake smiled and it was surprisingly warm considering his usual coolness toward Alphas that approached his mate. “We’ve got a movie we’ve been planning on watching and it just won’t get out of my head. Do you have that sometimes, Mr. Rechov?”

“Absolutely. I entirely understand.”

Jake nodded, “Come visit us the next time you’re in New York. We’ll take you out to dinner. How’s that?”

He smiled and this time it was with genuine surprise and pleasure. “O-Of course! Thank you, Mr. Thompson, I will. I’ll see you next time, Basil. Wonderful performance, again. We’re lucky to have you back.”

“A movie?” Basil asked as Anton retreated into the crowd and the two of them escaped out the door. The rain had stopped, leaving glimmering droplets of rainwater over the car and allowing the yellow street lights to shine in the puddles along the asphalt streets.

“We can put one on in the background if you’d like.”

“And have it distract me from you? I believe you promised me a bite in Bucharest, if I’m not mistaken.” He could feel his tummy forming a little knot of anticipation. “I think we’ve had all of our difficult conversations.” The night air felt chilly on his face, the breeze bringing to him the scent of the city as they walked toward their rental car. “I’d like to be your mate, Jake.”

Jake nodded easily. “And I’d like to be your mate, Basil.”

He got into the car, sitting in the passenger seat while Jake put his violin in the back seat and then got in to drive. “You don’t think we’re too different anymore, right? I mean…we’re not, after all.”

“We’re still very different…but I think we’ve worked around that well. You’ve got a talent and you work with it and I’ve got a talent and I work with it…my talent just happens to be keeping you from harm.”

“I think I’ll be quite able to support that talent.”

“I wouldn’t want to think myself a burden.”

Basil peered over at him as he drove. “You could never be a burden. Not to me. Not with how well you’ve taken care of me.” He sighed a great long sigh. “You’ve helped me more than any therapist or psychologist or psychiatrist ever has. You’ve developed with me…you’ve offered me ways to cope that include you…and I want you there. I want to know that when I’m with you, I’m strong. And if I’m not strong, I don’t have to be because you are.”

“I’m always going to be there, Basil,” he replied, his voice soft in the dark of the car.

Their hotel was only a short distance away and so he pulled into the lot and Basil got out, walking with him into the lobby. The elevator ride seemed to take a little too long and he could feel a latent arousal pulsing in his soul. He wanted to press Jake against the wallpaper. He wanted to sink down to his knees and take that thick Alpha cock right out of his black dress pants and suck the tip until the whole thing was hard in his hands.

“Don’t get too worked up, Omega,” Jake chuckled, his low tone vibrating Basil’s heartstrings and tingling down toward his groin. “Everyone will know what you’re lookin’ for if you walk down the halls smelling like that.”

“Maybe I want everyone to know what I’m looking for,” he replied, refusing to look up and catch Jake’s eye. His teasing worked, he noted as the Alpha’s hot scent spiced around him. He wandered in front of Jake down toward their suite and when he unlocked the door, he noted that his hands were shaking.

 _Why am I nervous? What have I to be nervous about? Being claimed? Being bitten?_

He went immediately to the counter where a bottle of champagne was sitting in a bucket of ice, the note upon it telling him it was from Seth to celebrate another successful Romanian show—and to congratulate him though the note did not specify for what exactly. It didn’t have to be said.

Jake set the violin carefully down in its case where it usually sat and untied his bow tie, pulling the silk strip from his collar and laying it over the edge of the small sofa in the room. With quick hands he removed his own jacket and began unfastening his cuffs to shed his shirt, his muscles rippling under his flesh and causing Basil’s mouth to water. “It’s going to be a hell of a chore to mount you, Omega, if you’re still going to be wearing your clothes. I’d hate to rip them.”

Basil didn’t miss the cheeky nature of his admonishments and began to remove his own clothes, taking the time to fold them carefully before he set them piece by piece upon a chair placed near to the wall. When he was in no more than his underwear, he felt the Alpha come behind him, his big hands touching his waist and giving him pause.

“You’re so beautiful, sweetheart. Look at you, all warm and delicious for me. I know I’ve had you out of heat before but sometimes I just can’t believe I’m able to…that you wanted to keep me around.”

“You sell yourself short,” he replied, battling the urge that surged within his mind to refold his clothes just one more time. Instead, he took a deep breath and leaned backwards into the touch, trying to focus harder on the slide of fingers over his abdomen and then his chest, the steady press of his body against that of his Alpha’s. Soon, with enough pressure and time, the urge slowly went away and the tension in him lifted. “Please… _Jake._ ”

“Alright.” He took him, lifting him and settling him atop the covers on the bed, pulling them down from under him until all he laid upon was the bottom sheet. With one smooth motion, he pulled off Basil’s underwear, leaving him bared in the low lighting of the hotel room, his thighs spread and his little Omega cock laying hard against his belly. “A scrumptious little morsel for me, huh? You look like I could just take a nibble out of you.”

He giggled, staring upward with a lustful gaze. “I might like that. A nibble. A bite…”

“Mmm, a bite sounds just right for you.” Jake’s lips met the inside of his thigh and he kissed sweetly, causing Basil to pant with unbridled need as he watched him, the man’s short beard roughing at his sensitive skin, his tongue apologizing in its wake. He took Basil into his mouth and sucked only enough to cause a short sound to emit from the Omega’s throat before he release him and climbed up his body as a big cat might stalk its prey. He came just between the violinist’s pale thighs, nudging his thick manhood against the tight entrance to his body.

The kiss they shared was searing and unbelievable. That they could have shared such a passion outside of a heat—that this spark between them and this veritable fire could not be quenched even by the lack of a biological factor…it was hope that glittered in Basil’s heart. It was hope for something better. He had thought for such a long time that he deserved no more than to be hunted into oblivion and taken and used and possibly killed for whatever perceived slight he could have committed and here—here he was _free_. Free with this incredibly handsome Alpha who knew him and kept him and held him so sweetly. His kiss was fire. Wet, passionate, desperate fire.

Jake’s hand reached out to the nightstand where a bottle of lubricant sat waiting for him, nearly knocking it clear to the floor in his zealousness. When he had it firmly in hand, he broke from Basil’s kiss, raising himself up and breathing steadily to calm himself while he popped the top open and coated himself judiciously. They had come together many times over the past few months and it was no feat at all for him to slide deep inside, filling Basil until he was gasping from the fullness of it all.

“ _Jake…please!_ ” His thighs were tense around the Alpha’s hips and he couldn’t help but let out small squeaks with each pervasive thrust that emptied him and filled him and again and again in turns. He could have screamed when Jake pinched at his nipples, rubbing at his chest and toying with him as his thrusts became faster and steadier, their bodies slapping together as the pleasure mounted, laying slowly over itself as snow comes down over a silent January night. “ _Jake! God! Alpha! I want your bite! I want to be yours!_ ”

He grunted above, his eyes closing with his concentration as he reached between Basil’s thighs and stroked him, sliding an altruistic thumb over the underside of him and lingering just over the seam where he was most sensitive.

“ _Ahn! Jake! I’m going to—_ ” The rest of his statement was cut off by a strangled moan and he reached upward at just the same moment that Jake came downward, Basil’s hand tangling in his tied up dreads just as the Alpha sank his teeth deep into the side of the Omega’s neck—claiming him and shoving him off the precipice of a shattering climax. Sticky ropes of white spurted from between them and Basil’s body tensioned in waves, his voice stolen by the impact of his pleasure and the jet of pain that had accompanied it.

They often said the pain made an orgasm a hundred times more intense. Basil may not have thought a _hundred times_ was accurate but at the very _least_ it was ten times. He lay in the aftermath, his arms out to the sides while his legs were still wrapped about Jake’s hips. He didn’t want the man to leave him. He was feeling rather like he wanted to stay just like this until it was time to leave Bucharest completely.

His Alpha let him loose from his powerful jaw and licked his lips before he raised himself up in order to stare downward, his dark, nearly black eyes shining with affection and a glimmer of a potent love. His whisper was soft and genuine. “ _You are the most beautiful creature I have ever beheld, Basil Zolanowski._ ”

“ _And you are the most handsome Alpha…_ ”

He smiled. “Thank you…for having me.” He kissed him gently upon his lips, snugging his hips a little tighter against his rump.

“Thank you, Alpha…for loving me.”

“No need to thank me, sweetheart,” he replied, “ _I’m only doing my job._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyoooo--if you wanna know the inside scoop on new J.D. projects that might end up on Archive of Our Own, be sure to come hang out with all us cool kids on my [Discord Server](https://discord.gg/af7KvbT2AJ). We chat about stories!!! :D


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